European champ Norway thrashed Olympic debutant Sweden 31-24 to enter the semifinals at Beijing Olympic women's handball tournament in Beijing on Tuesday.

Left back Tonje Larsen scored twice in the first five minutes to give Norway a 4-0 start, while Sweden, appearing a little tense in the court, waited for six minutes to see their opening goal. At the end of first half, Sweden legged behind with a six points deficit.

"We did not play well from the beginning of the game. It is tough to change things with Norway leading the first half with six goals. But I am satisfied with the second half, we played aggressively," said Swedish coach Ulf Schefvert in a post-match conference.

Norway did know how to keep their advantage, grabbing the second half firmly in control and never giving Sweden any chance to narrow the gap. Although top scorer Gro Hammerseng finished the game empty-handed, she contributed to the team with a series of beating all assists.

"We lost the game, but I am pleased because first our opponent is the European champion and second we played a good second half. If the total grade is five, I will give my players a six for their performance in Beijing," said Schefvert.

It was the first time for Sweden to compete in the Olympic arena. After beating Brazil and Germany, they made history by making into the quarterfinals.

"Of cause we want to win a medal, but we have to focus on the semifinal game first. We still don't know who we are facing," said Norway coach Marit Breivik, whose team will take on the winner of South Korea and China in the semifinals.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2008)