France proved too strong for Russia, and Iceland surprised Poland in the quarterfinals of the Men's Handball competition at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium on Wednesday, August 20. Spain and Croatia round out the all-European semifinal lineup.

France vs. Russia: 27-24

France took control of the game from the start, with center-back Daniel Narcisse orchestrating the attacks and scoring a team-high nine goals. Russia struggled to penetrate the French defense, though pivot Alexander Chernoivanov had some success from six meters out, netting four goals. With nine minutes remaining, Russia pushed the margin to just a one goal difference.

But Les Bleus still proved to be a notch above the Russian team, quickly increasing the lead with several fast breaks to finish with a guaranteed semifinal spot.

In the semifinals they will meet defending Olympic champion Croatia on Friday. Meanwhile, Russia will compete with Denmark for a fifth to eighth place spot.

Iceland vs. Poland: 32-30

This was a tough game, with both teams playing industriously to earn a semifinal spot, but Iceland finally held off the dogged Polish challenge and got one step further.

Iceland started well, with Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson scoring twice before setting up Alexander Petersson for a third goal as the team set a quick tempo for the game. Inspired by left-wing Mateusz Jachlewski and center-back Grzegorz Tkaczyk, who were both the top scorers for the team, the rest of the Polish team fought hard but received the opponent's fierce counter-attack in response and failed to catch up in the remaining minutes. Also, the Iceland team was punished with eight two-minute suspensions.

Iceland will play Spain in the semifinals and Poland will duel the Republic of Korea for a fifth to eighth place spot.

Croatia vs. Denmark: 26-24

The showdown between defending Olympic champion Croatia and current European champion Denmark ended with the Croatians taking a narrow win. They will face off against group A's top qualifier, France, on Friday.

Croatia controlled the first half, but the second half saw a bullheaded Denmark fight back with spirit, led by solid left-wing Lars Roslyng Christiansen, who got his team ahead after the break. Christiansen was also the team's top scorer, with six goals.

But Croatia took advantage of the weak Danish defense and quickly overturned the situation, with the help of six 7m penalties. Croatia ended the game with two goals ahead and shut out Denmark's hopes of entering the final four.

The Republic of Korea vs. Spain: 24-29

2005 world champion Spain got a semifinal berth by overpowering the Republic of Korea and will meet Iceland on Friday.

The first half saw Spain leading with a very slight advantage over the ROK before the break 14-13. The ROK team was playing with effort and Jeong Yi-kyeong was the top scorer at seven goals.

But Spain took control of the game in the second half. Right-wing Albert Rocas and left-wing Juan Garcia had no trouble breaking through on either side of the ROK team, netting 14 goals between them. In addition Spain's goalkeeper, David Barrufet, saved an impressive 58 percent of all shots in the second half.

The top scorer for the Spanish team was Albert Rocas, who contributed eight goals out of eleven attempts.

(Beijing2008.cn August 21, 2008 )