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 5âÂÂ20 December 2009. Russia successfully contested France in the final, their fourth title.
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:
Host Nation
European play-offs were played from 6âÂÂ7 June 2009 (first leg) and 12âÂÂ14 June 2009 (second leg). Qualified teams are marked in bold.
The 2009 Pan-American Championship took place from 23âÂÂ27 June in Santiago, Chile. The three highest ranked teams qualified directly.
The 2009 Oceania Championship took place in Brisbane, Australia, from 25âÂÂ30 May. The host team won the competition and thus qualified directly.
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.
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.
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<small>Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info</small>
<small>Source: IHF.info</small>
<small>Source: IHF.info</small>
<small>Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info</small>