Host China reached the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympic women's handball after stunning European powerhouse France 21-18 in their last preliminary game, while debutant Sweden also found their place in top eight, upsetting Brazil 25-22 in Beijing on Sunday.
"The key to our victory is the change of the defending strategy. In the previous four games, we always adopted a 3-2-1 defending system, which left too much space for opponents to break through. But today we tightened our defending line," said Kang Jae-won, silver medallist at 1988 Seoul Games.
It was a do-or-die game for China, whose opponent finished fourth in the Athens Games and fifth in 2007 World Championship. However, the "much stronger" French side appeared nail-biting in front of China's tightened defence system, only netting five goals 20 minutes into the game.
The host should have enjoyed an early lead, only if they could improve their shooting efficiency. Though constantly launching fast breaks after ball interception, China merely scored nine goals out of 29 shots in the first half and trailed one point at the interval.
"It is my first Olympic experience and I don't want it to end so soon,"said Chinese goalkeeper Huang Hong, who paced China to charge a 9-2 run fifteen minutes after the game resumed.