France needed two overtimes to prevail over Romania 36-34 in the 5-8 place of the Beijing Olympics women's handball on Thursday.
It will meet China again for the fifth place on Saturday. The host country reached the quarterfinals after stunning the European powerhouse 21-18 in their last preliminary here on Sunday.
"The next one against China will be a tough competition. Lots of members have suffered injuries and had less strength. I will try to send out members in better shape," said French coach Olivier Krumbholz.
The coach explained that the defeat on Sunday was because the French women did not give full play to their potential. He believed they will stage better performance in the next duel.
Romanian coach Gheorghe Tadici blamed the loss to defensive mistakes in extra time, although he considered their performance in the first 60 minutes was fairly good.
"There must be a winner in the competition, and of course a loser. The contests had nothing to do with medals, but we will take them seriously, so will we in the next competition," Romanian right wing Ramona Maier said.
The French team was dealt a blow in the first half. Its right back Alexandra Lacrabere who scored twice had to be taken out due to an injury in body clashes when the match was nearly tied at 12. Romania led 13-12 in the first half.
The porous defense of France enabled Romania to lead by five points three times after the break. The fifth placer in the 2007 World Championships suddenly rejuvenated in the last 10 minutes. Mainly thanks to the efforts of pivot Veronique Pecqueux-Rolland and two members on the left wing, the squad caught up and left no chance to rivals again in the overtimes.
The match ended with France's last-second penalty by left wing Paule Baudouin.
France was muscled out of semifinals by Russia in a thrilling two-overtime quarterfinal. Three-time world titlist Russia will seek to beat Hungary on Thursday to reach the final.
Romania was shut out of the semifinals following a 34-30 defeat to a determined Hungary on Tuesday. It will fight for the seventh place against Sweden.
(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)