who is qualified? who is threatened? Update on the French basketball, handball and volleyball teams

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  Men’s handball: the French take the quarter

It is a faultless for the Blues, Olympic vice-champions, at the start of the tournament. After their victories against Argentina (33-27), Brazil (34-29), Germany (30-29) and Spain (36-31), the French handball players were already guaranteed to see the quarterfinals of final, before their group’s last match against Norway on Sunday (9:15 a.m. KST).

But, with the Norwegians losing to Germany on Friday afternoon (23-28), they are sure to end this group stage in first place. The Blues will therefore face the fourth in Group B, namely the team of Bahrain, Portugal or Japan, in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

• Women’s handball: misstep not recommended

It’s more complicated for French handball players. Victorious with a goal against Hungary in the opening (30-29), the Blue then lost against Spain (25-28), before conceding a draw against Sweden (28-28).

Currently fourth in their group, Olivier Krumbholz’s players still have two games to finish in one of the top four qualifying places for the quarter-finals. They still have to face Russia, the outgoing Olympic champion (Saturday at 7:15 a.m.), and Brazil (Monday at 4:00 a.m.). These two countries have the same record as the French after the first three games (a victory, a draw and a defeat).

If they qualify, the Blue could then find the Norwegians, favorites for a medal, or the Dutch, whom they had beaten by a small goal (24-23) in the semi-finals in Rio, five years ago.

• Men’s basketball: the Blues assured of first place

As for the handball players, all is well for the French basketball players. Evan Fournier’s teammates created a surprise in the first game, beating the Americans (83-76). They then unfolded against the Czech Republic (97-77) and are already guaranteed to finish in first place. They must face Iran for the account of the last match of their group (Saturday at 3 am).

Impossible, however, to know who the Blues will face in the quarter-finals. To avoid calculations (like those made by the Spaniards to avoid the Americans in the semifinals in 2012), the organizers decided to divide the teams into three groups and organize a draw for the second part of the competition: the first three of each group and the best runner-up will be placed in hat 1. The other two runners-up and the two best thirds will be in hat 2.

The only thing we can be sure of after these first two games is that the Blues will avoid the teams qualified in their group in the quarterfinals (and therefore the Americans, still big favorites for gold).

• Women’s basketball: heal the score against the Americans

After a silver medal obtained at the last European Championships, at the end of June, the French basketball players arrived in Tokyo with a new medal goal.

But things did not go as planned in the first game against Japan, lost by four points (74-70). Back to the wall, the players of Valérie Garnier were reassured against Nigeria (87-62), taking care of the point average, which could prove to be crucial for qualification. They currently occupy third place in their group, and must conclude this first phase against the Americans (Monday at 6:40), already qualified and who remain on fifty-one consecutive victories at the Olympics.

As with the men, the first two of each group qualify for the quarter-finals, as well as the two best thirds. In the event of qualification, the Blue could find sizes like Serbia, which beat them in the final of the European championship, Spain or Belgium, third of the last Euro.

• Men’s volleyball: the Habs totally revived

After the defeats against the United States (3-0) and Argentina (3-2), and only one victory against Tunisia (3-0), the Blues needed a good performance against the Russians to revive in their group. It’s done: Earvin Ngapeth’s teammates won 3-1 on Friday July 30. They thus go up to third place – the first four qualify for the rest of the competition.

Laurent Tillie’s players are now masters of their own destiny and have the opportunity to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games for the first time. They can still finish in first place, even if the combination of circumstances seems highly unlikely.

If they can look ahead, the Blues will especially have their eyes behind them when they have to face Brazil, reigning Olympic champion (Sunday, at 4:05).

For the moment, the French have as many victories – the first criterion to decide between the teams – as the Americans and the Argentines, who must also face each other in the last match. But the Blues are ahead in terms of points, the second criterion in the event of a tie in number of victories (we give three in the event of a 3-0 or 3-1 victory, two in the event of a 3-2 victory, and one in case of defeat 3-2). The French have seven points so far, the Americans have six and the Argentines, five. The little game of calculations, the French know that there is only one scenario that would prevent them from seeing the quarterfinals: a 3-1 or 3-0 defeat against Brazil combined with a 3-2 victory for the Argentines against the Americans.

In case of qualification, the Blues would have a good chance of playing a quarter-final against Poland, world champion in 2018, or Italy, Olympic vice-champion.