Israel's under-16 women's handball team barely let Mexico into the contest on Monday, running out 19-3 winners at the IHF Women's U16 World Championship in Zagreb to make it two wins from two at the tournament.
It was one-sided from the opening whistle. Israel controlled 79 percent of possession over the 50 minutes, according to ONE, and set up all but a handful of their goals with 13 assists, the kind of clinical, unhurried numbers that speak to a gulf in class rather than a scrappy blowout.
Yahali Rokach and Yara Huino-Garcia each finished with three goals to lead the scoring, with Tamar Orhan, Galia Wright, Rotem Bar, Tamara Salmon and Hila Korsia all chipping in twice. Shani Yaakubovitz, Inbar Yanko and Alma Tauber rounded out the goal charts with one apiece — ten different players got on the scoresheet, underlining just how comprehensively Israel's bench contributed.
"The players did their job in a game where they were favourites," coach Idan Kaftori said afterwards, according to ONE, before turning his attention immediately to what comes next. "Tomorrow we expect a tough and important match against Holland."
That warning is not just coach-speak. Israel faces the Netherlands on Tuesday at 15:30 local time, a side ONE describes as one of the strongest teams in the world at this age group and by some distance the sternest test of Israel's group.
Monday's win followed an opening-day victory over South Africa, 12-7, in which Israel had to work harder for the result — trailing 0-2 early before reeling off five unanswered goals to lead 6-4 at the break, then pulling clear with a 4-1 third quarter. Rokach was named player of the match in that game too, alongside Uri Grodman, each scoring three.
Israel's group in Zagreb also includes Hungary, giving the teenage squad a demanding run of fixtures before the tournament's knockout stages, but two wins from two — one comfortable, one hard-fought — is as good a start as the coaching staff could have asked for.
For a Handball Federation of Israel age group that rarely gets attention outside its own community, a 79-percent-possession demolition of a fellow world-championship entrant is a notable result, and one that raises the stakes for Tuesday's meeting with the Dutch.
