Japan's Junior Women's National Team Falls Just Short Against Serbia, Advances to 7th Place Match at 25th Women's Junior World Championship

We sincerely appreciate your continued support for our association.

The Japan Junior Women's National Handball Team (U-20), competing in the 25th Women's Junior World Championship currently held in China since June 24, faced Serbia in the 5th–8th place semifinal on July 3 at 18:30 local time (19:30 JST), losing 27–29.

Having narrowly lost to Spain by one goal in the quarterfinals, Japan faced Serbia again—a team they also narrowly lost to two years ago in the U-18 Youth World Championship. Despite a strong effort, Japan fell just short. As a result, Japan will now compete in the 7th place match against Norway on July 5.

◇ 5th–8th Place Semifinal

Serbia 29 (15–14, 14–13) 27 Japan

[First Half] Back-and-forth battle, Japan trails by one goal at halftime

Japan opened the scoring with a loop shot by Ai Nakao, followed by a fast break goal from Jurina Kio and a right-wing shot by Airi Kanno, giving them a strong start.

However, physically stronger Serbia capitalized on Japanese mistakes to counterattack, leading to a tightly contested match.

Supported by goalkeeper Hina Ozaki’s saves and resilient defense, Japan went into halftime trailing narrowly 14–15.

[Second Half] Closing gap to one goal, but falls short in final moments

Japan was pulled away early in the second half and struggled to close the gap consistently.

Nevertheless, they fought back with key saves from goalkeeper Hirari Fujiwara and solid defense led by Kaede Abe, adding goals including a post shot by Mao Kato.

In the final minutes, Japan switched to a 7-player attack and narrowed the score to 27–28 with under a minute remaining. However, they could not complete the comeback, losing 27–29.

The experiences of battling top European teams like Spain and Serbia to the final moments will serve as invaluable assets for the players’ development.

◇ Japan’s Scoring and Goalkeeper Stats

#4 Airi Kanno – 6 goals #23 Ai Nakao – 3 goals #10 Yume Matsumoto – 3 goals #25 Mao Kato – 3 goals #6 Haruka Sashimo – 2 goals #5 Ririko Inakichi – 2 goals #13 Futaba Ikeda – 2 goals #14 Makoto Nakamura – 2 goals #18 Jurina Kio – 2 goals #15 Wakana Kitano – 1 goal #20 Haruka Arakaki – 1 goal

• Goalkeepers (Saves / Shots Faced)

#1 Hirari Fujiwara – 6/19 #12 Hina Ozaki – 6/21

※ Detailed statistics available here

◇ Next Match: Clash with Norway for Japan’s Best-Ever Finish

After the loss in the 5th–8th place semifinal, Japan will face Norway in the 7th place match.

This will be a rematch of their preliminary round encounter, which Japan narrowly won 26–24.

A victory would secure 7th place—surpassing Japan’s previous best of 8th place achieved at the 11th edition in 1997—and mark the nation’s highest-ever finish in the Women’s Junior (U-20) category.

We kindly ask for your continued support as the team pushes forward until the final whistle.

● Match: 7th Place Match vs Norway ● Date & Time: July 5 (Sun), 11:30 local time (12:30 JST) ● Venue: City Gymnasium

【25th IHF Women’s Junior (U-20) Handball World Championship】

Period: June 24 (Wed), 2026 – July 5 (Sun)

Host Country: China

Event Details: Tournament Page

◇ Broadcast & Streaming

Live streaming available on the official IHF (International Handball Federation) YouTube channel

◇ Archived Streams

• 5th–8th Place Semifinal

Serbia Match (July 3, archived)

• Final Tournament – Quarterfinal

Spain Match (July 2, archived)

• Main Round

Hungary Match (June 29, archived)

Poland Match (June 30, archived)

• Preliminary Round

Faroe Islands Match (June 24, archived)

Norway Match (June 25, archived)

Croatia Match (June 27, archived)

□ Japan National Team Roster

25th Women’s Junior World Championship Squad