France open world handball title defence with Brazil rout

Paris (AFP) – France opened the defence of their world handball championships title with a crushing 31-16 win over Olympic quarter-finalists Brazil on Wednesday in Paris.

The hosts, bidding for a sixth world crown to add to triumphs in 1995, 2001, 2009, 2011 and 2015, had the match virtually wrapped up by half time when they were 17-7 ahead.

Top scorer for France was Valentin Porte with six goals — five in the first period for a 100 percent success rate — while Jose Toledo netted five for Brazil, widely regarded as one of the sport’s emerging nations.

Adrien Dipanda and Olivier Nyokas added three goals each for France in the second half.

Two years ago in Doha the French ran out 25-22 final winners over Qatar but they suffered disappointment at the Rio Olympics in 2016 when they were defeated by Denmark and missed out on a third consecutive gold.

France won the world title on the last occasion the championships were held at home in 2001.

Goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer, one of the survivors of that run 16 years ago, enjoyed a standout performance making 14 saves in the opening period.

“It was the ideal start to the championship,” said France coach Didier Dinart.

“We had three weeks of preparation and the players were desperate to get started.”

Dinart saluted their South American opponents and insisted his team will not get carried away by their chances in a 24-team tournament which runs until January 29.

“The last time we played Brazil it was the quarter-finals of the Olympics (which France won 34-27). They are a quality team and we had to put in the necessary work. 

“We will continue to work as it’s only the beginning of the competition.”

French full-back Arnaud Di Panda described the result as “a perfect start”.

“There was a lot of emotion, pride and a great connection with the fans. To hear the Marseillaise (French national anthem) with 15,000 people isn’t something you experience every day.”

Brazil were hampered in the Group A opener by the absence of influential full-back Thiagus Petrus, who was missing with a shoulder injury.

“We didn’t have a good match,” said centre Henrique Teixeira. “When you don’t play well against France, one of the best teams in the world, you sink.

“We are making progress but we can’t be happy. We have to study what didn’t work and try to improve for our next matches.”