2009 World Women's Handball Championship

The 2009 World Women's Handball Championship was the 19th edition, second to take place outside Europe, of the international championship tournament in women's team sport handball that is governed by the International Handball Federation (IHF). China hosted the event from 5-20 December 2009. Russia successfully contested France in the final, their fourth title.

Venues
The competition took place in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. It was the second women's World Championship organized outside of Europe, the first was in South Korea 1990.

Six cities were on the short list to host the matches:

Qualification
Host Nation


 * Defending Champions


 * Qualified from the 2008 Asian Championship


 * Qualified from the 2008 European Championship

European play-offs were played from 6-7 June 2009 (first leg) and 12-14 June 2009 (second leg). Qualified teams are marked in bold.
 * Qualified from European play-offs


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 * Qualified from the 2008 African Championship

The 2009 Pan-American Championship took place from 23-27 June in Santiago, Chile. The three highest ranked teams qualified directly.
 * Qualified from the 2009 Pan-American Championship

The 2009 Oceania Championship took place in Brisbane, Australia, from 25-30 May. The host team won the competition and thus qualified directly.
 * Qualified from the 2009 Oceania Handball Nations Cup

Squads

 * Group A
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 * Group B
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 * Group C
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 * Group D
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Each nation had to submit an initial squad of 28 players, 12 of them became reserves when the final squad of 16 players was announced on 5 December 2009.

Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round was held on 15 July 2009 at the IHF headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Teams placed first, second and third will qualify for the Main Round.

President's Cup
Placement matches for teams eliminated after preliminary round.

Placement Matches
13-24 December: Final placement matches for Presidents Cup. 5-12 December: Placement matches for teams eliminated after main round.

All Star Team
Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info
 * Goalkeeper: 🇷🇺 Inna Suslina (RUS)
 * Left wing: 🇳🇴 Camilla Herrem (NOR)
 * Left back: 🇫🇷 Mariama Signaté (FRA)
 * Pivot: 🇪🇸 Begoña Fernández (ESP)
 * Centre back: 🇫🇷 Allison Pineau (FRA)
 * Right back: 🇪🇸 Marta Mangué (ESP)
 * Right wing: 🇳🇴 Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth (NOR)

Top Goalkeepers
Source: IHF.info

Top goalscorers
Source: IHF.info

Other awards
Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info
 * Most Valuable Player: 🇷🇺 Lyudmila Postnova (RUS)