Santander named official partner of 2015 Women’s Handball World Championships

Santander Consumer Bank have been announced as an event partner for the 24-team Championships ©Santander Consumer Bank

Santander Consumer Bank have been revealed as the official event partner of the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championships by the International Handball Federation (IHF).

Set to be held in Denmark, the 22nd edition of the Championships will see 24 teams vying for the title with Brazil hopeful of defending the crown they won at the 2013 edition of the event, where they beat the then hosts Serbia in the final.

"We are very excited to announce Santander Consumer Bank, Nordic, as our official event partner for the 22nd Women’s World Championship,” the IHF said in a statement.

“We are experiencing a huge commercial interest in the Championship and we look forward to the cooperation with a strong partner such as Santander Consumer Bank, Nordic.”

Hosts Denmark have been drawn in Group A which sees them play all of their games at the indoor Jyske Bank Boxen arena in the city of Herning, with their first clash set to see them take on Japan on December 5.

Following that they face the challenge of Tunisia, Serbia, Hungary and Montenegro as they bid to become one of four teams to advance to the round of 16.

Group B will see Angola, Cuba, China, The Netherlands, Poland and Sweden compete in the multi-purpose Næstved Arena, while reigning champions Brazil will face the challenge of France, Germany, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Korea and arch-rivals Argentina for the right to qualify from Group C, with competition set to be held at Kolding-Hallen.

The final group will be played in Frederikshavn and contains current European champions Norway, Spain, Romania, Puerto Rico, Russia and Kazakhstan, who made it through to the Championship by winning a final qualification tournament.

Brazil will hoping to defend the title they won at the 2013 edition of the tournament — Brazil will be hoping to defend the title they won at the 2013 edition of the tournament ©Getty Images

Following the completion of the group phase of the competition a straight knock-out tournament will take place, with the winners set to be crowned on December 20.

Bo Jaboksen, the chief executive of Santander Consumer Bank Denmark, expressed his delight that they have been able to become an official partner of the event.

"A handball world championship on Danish soil is a fantastic event, and the interest in women's handball is growing rapidly in both Denmark and other Nordic countries,” he said.

“Therefore, we are both very happy and proud that we as event sponsor can support such an arrangement, which will undoubtedly be a big handball festival."