With the knife for the throat peeled håndboldkvinderne the ornament of the French the world champions and further by the WORLD cup.

the Humiliation is called off and the failure is averted.

The Danish defense can also touch is ready to mellemrunden at the WORLD cup in handball after a victory over the French champions in a pure horror film.

the Danes won 20-18, and must now meet Norway, the Netherlands and Serbia in the mellemrunden, while the succesvante the French out of the tournament.

A betonforsvar in front of the new storspillende Sandra Toft was the key to the triumph, as the national coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen and his players have reason to be proud of.

as expected, it was a really nervekamp between the two of håndboldens traditional powers, who are not used to being under so much pressure so early in a tournament.

It went beyond spilkvaliteten, but the choppy rhythm was, however, offset by the excitement, which almost drives down the walls of the hall in Kumamoto.

The once-daunting, the French were offensively quite hold of their senses in the large periods of time.

the Balls were thrown away on the strip, and the terminations were without precision, while Sandra Toft noted for the one rescue after the other.

Verdensmestrene made only two goals in the first quarter, and the low pausecifre at 9-7 to Denmark, tells all about what it was for a battle, the audience was welcomed.

Also, the danes had big difficulties to play through the French bagkæde which, despite everything, still keeps a high level.

Lotte Grigel sled to find the microscopic openings, but they were hard to spot, and the French were aware that the little playmaker rarely looking for his own chance.

After the break there was the shape of angrebsspillet with Stine Jørgensen as playmaker between Anne Mette Hansen and Louise Burgaard.

Denmark preserved the initiative, and in particular, Stine Jørgensen played with more determination than earlier in the tournament.

With just over ten minutes again hammered the captain, Denmark in front with 16-12, the first Danish firemålsføring in the fight, and the panic began to spread among the French favorites.

After a time, there was, however, tightened up, and four minutes before time the excitement was back, when Alexandra Lacrabère reduced to 16-17.

a Draw would be enough for France, and it was critical, as Sarah Iversen was sent off two minutes before time.

But a hammer of a goal by Anne Mette Hansen made it 19-17, and it was the same Hansen who tiltvang a use only after the reduction.

Stine Jørgensen decided on the performance from the seven-meter, and Denmark is thus ready for mellemrunden. The team plays the next time on Sunday against Norway.

/ritzau/