The Australian women had a challenging first game at the Women's Junior World Championships in Seoul. Although they went down 43-12 the coach, Janne Lilleeng, was pleased with the performance. "Generally they did a good job, especially considering this is the first International game for many of the team".

On arrival at Korea University, team members were particularly impressed with the modern facility noting that the court was purely for Handball. "Not only is it the right size, but it only has one set of court markings!"

Victoria Brunsberg was the first to score for Australia, followed by Rachel Lodewijks and then Vanja Smiljanic. Victoria and Vanja then continued to score for the team with Vanja acheiving 100% penalties and taking out the MVP ( Most Valuable Player ) award.

Spain cut out the Australia's wingers and they scored mostly from the wings, but the Australian goalkeepers, Taylee Lewis and Sonja Miskovic, did a great job saving on penalties, back shots, 6 metre shots and fast breaks.

This Australian team is a very young inexperienced side who underwent a disjointed preparation for this World Championship. Until they had their first training match in Seoul, the ten players had not even trained together as a full team. This match against Spain, who are ranked 4th in the world, was their first experience playing together - so the next few matches should see the team develop from this International experience!

- Kerrie Keyes
AHF South Korean Correspondent