The physical power of the Kenians forced Spain to work hard in a debut whose marker did not unlock until the final stretch of the first half, when Marta Cantabrana marked in individual action and, then, Juana Stella folded the rent after demolishing with a violent percussion to two defenders.
An start with Freshia Oduor A ras of a group allowed Kenya to shorten distances to the edge of the break (14-7) but her essay was a mirage, since Beatriz Domínguez, Anne Fernández de Corres and Denisse Gortazar secured the Spanish triumph in the second half before Odor completed her double in the final moments (33-14).
The brand of Silvia Morales two minutes later made the ‘lions’ think that the match against Colombia, a priori the most weak participant of the tournament, was going to be a walk but the coffee makers left to the break ahead on the scoreboard (5-12) thanks to the trials of Angie Manyoma and Daniela Alzate.
Spain crashed in the second half with a strong Colombian defense, which did not yield despite the repetition on five meters of its test line and resisted until the final minute, when Denisse Gortazar overflowed his pair for the left exterior corridor.
The simple conversion of Anne Fernández de Corres sent the encounter to the extension, played under the modality of sudden death, and spent almost three minutes until María García Gala slipped between the last two Colombian defenders to give the victory to Spain (17-12).
On Sunday, Spain will play with Brazil the group lead and the direct classification for the second division of the world series but, in case of defeat, it will still have the opportunity to promote through a ‘playoff’ against the third of the other group, which will be the loser of South Africa-Argentina that will open the program of the second day. EFE
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