| Tourney name | World Men's Handball Championship |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
| Other titles | 1997年男子世界ハンドボール選手権大会 |
| Country | Japan |
| Dates | 16 May–1 June |
| Num teams | 24 |
| Venues | 4 |
| Cities | 3 |
| Champion | Russia |
| Count | 2 |
| Second | Sweden |
| Third | France |
| Fourth | Hungary |
| Matches | 80 |
| Goals | 3741 |
| Top scorer | Yoon Kyung-shin (South Korea) 62 (12) |
| Player | Talant Duyshebaev (Spain) |
| Previous | 1995 World Men's Handball Championship |
| Next | 1999 World Men's Handball Championship |
The 1997 World Men's Handball Championship was the 15th team handball World Championship. It was held in Kumamoto, Japan and was the first World Championship not played in a European country. Russia won the championship.
Qualification
| Competition | Dates | Vacancies | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | 1 | Japan | |
| 1995 World Men's Handball Championship | 7–21 May 1995 | 1 | France |
| Handball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament | 24 July – 4 August 1996 | 1 | Croatia |
| 1996 European Men's Handball Championship | 24 May – 2 June 1996 | 4 | Russia Spain FR Yugoslavia Sweden |
| 1996 Pan American Men's Handball Championship | 8–13 October 1996 | 3 | Cuba Argentina Brazil |
| 1996 African Men's Handball Championship | 16–29 October 1996 | 4 | Algeria Tunisia Egypt Morocco |
| European qualification | 20 August – 1 December 1996 | 6 | Czech Republic Hungary Iceland Italy Norway Portugal |
| Asian qualification | 30 September – 4 December 1996 | 3 | Saudi Arabia China South Korea |
| EHF v OCHF Play-off | 31 January – 2 February 1997 | 1 | Lithuania |
Venues
The organizing committee used four venues to host the 1997 World Men's Handball Championship:[1]
- Group A: Park Dome Kumamoto
- Group B: Kumamoto City Gym
- Group C: Yamaga City Gym
- Group D: Yatsushiro City Gym
Preliminary round
The top 4 placed teams of each group continues to the knockout stage. The teams are ranked through the following rules.
- Team with the most points (2 points for each won game, 1 point for each drawn game).
- If two teams get the same points, the winner in the game between the two teams get ranked first.
- If the game between the teams ended in a draw, the team with the best goal difference get ranked first.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Final round
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Placement matches
5th place match
Semi-finals
Final standings
- Russia
- Sweden
- France
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Egypt
- Spain
- South Korea
- FR Yugoslavia
- Lithuania
- Czech Republic
- Norway
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Japan
- Tunisia
- Algeria
- Italy
- Portugal
- China
- Saudi Arabia
- Argentina
- Morocco
- Brazil
Medalists
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|
|
|
|
All Star Team
- Goalkeeper: Mats Olsson
- Left Wing: Valery Gopin
- Left Back: Vasily Kudinov
- Center Back: Talant Duyshebaev
- Pivot: Guéric Kervadec
- Right Back: Staffan Olsson
- Right Wing: Valdimar Grímsson
References
- ^ "Men Handball XV World Championship 1997 Kumamoto (JPN) 17.05-01.06 Champion Russia". Archived from the original on 24 August 2011.