TEHRAN – Poland delivered a winning start at the 2023 World Women's Handball Championship, with the European side being clearly more experienced than Iran, who were only featuring in the world handball flagship competition for the second time in their history.

Poland beat Iran 35-15 in Group E of the competition at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark.

Fatemeh Merikh, who had previously shined at the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, where she finished between the top 10 scorers, had an excellent game, with six goals, leading the Asian side and secured the hummel Player of the Match award.

Poland threw off the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship in style, but will face Japan and Germany in the next two matches, pivotal moments in their journey at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, with those matches probably deciding how many points will Arne Senstad’s side take into the next phase.

Iran lost their seventh match in eight tries at the IHF Women’s World Championship, with their chances of progression to the main round suffering a big blow, as they will face Germany and Japan in the next matches, being clear underdogs in each of these.