USATH delegate en route to World Championship

The competition at the 19th Women's Handball World Championship continues to amplify leading up the Final Round matchups. France, Norway, Spain and Russia, the last teams of the initial 24 eligible for first place, will resume to push for the Championship Friday. First and second place winners from 2007, Russia and Norway, will face off after Spain and France.

Angola, Austria, China, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Korea and Romania will compete for fifth through 12th place in the Placement Matches Thursday.

The President's Cup came to a conclusion Tuesday, with Sweden snagging 13th place after edging out Tunisia. Brazil took bronze; the other Pan-American representative at the World Championship, Chile, placed 23rd. The President's Cup final rankings are as follows:

13. Sweden
14. Tunisia
15. Brazil
16. Japan
17. Ukraine
18. Ivory Coast
19. Argentina
20. Congo
21. Thailand
22. Kazakhstan
23. Chile
24. Australia

USA Team Handball Women's Working Group member Janet Vise arrives in Nanjing on Friday to attend the Semi-Final and Final Rounds; she will also meet with other delegates of the International Handball Federation.

Follow the 2009 Women's World Championship at ihf.info, the official site of the IHF.