Hosts and defending champions France claimed a second win in as many games at the IHF World Championships after overcoming Japan at the Exponantes - Hall XXL in Nantes ©Getty Images

Hosts and defending champions France claimed a second win in as many games at the International Handball Federation (IHF) World Championships after overcoming Japan at the Exponantes - Hall XXL in Nantes.

Having beaten Brazil in the Group A opener on Wednesday (January 11), France faced little resistance from their Asian counterparts in a 31-19 victory.

Ludovic Fabregas was the home nation’s stand-out performer, earning the player of the match accolade with his five goals from the line.

"This was a game that we wanted to take seriously and we had prepared for accordingly," Fabregas said.

"It took us a little bit of time to adapt to their defence but once we settled, we played quite well.

"Everybody had the opportunity to play, which in the end, might be important later in the competition."

Arguably the biggest shock of the day came in Group D as 2015 runners-up Qatar fell to a narrow 20-22 defeat at the hands of Egypt at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris.

Egypt were helped significantly by a spectacular performance from goalkeeper Karim Hendawy, who had a save rate of 48 per cent. 

Ahmed Elahmar top scored for the African champions with eight goals, followed by Eslam Eissa with six.

The other matches in Group D saw four-time winners Sweden overcome Bahrain 33-16 in coach Kristjan Andresson’s first IHF World Championships match at the helm and Denmark defeat Argentina 33-22.

Qatar, the runners-up in 2015, were beaten by Egypt ©Getty Images
Qatar, the runners-up in 2015, were beaten by Egypt ©Getty Images

In Group C, three-time winners Germany made a winning start to their campaign by beating Hungary 27-23 at the Kindarena in Rouen.

Uwe Gensheimer top scored for the European champions with 13 goals, while goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter produced an impressive 14 saves.

There was also a surprise 32-28 victory for Chile against Belarus prior to Croatia’s 28-23 triumph at the expense of Saudi Arabia.

Success for Chile already marks a significant improvement from their display at the 2015 World Championships in Qatar, where they lost all five of their group games before eventually finishing 23rd out of 24 teams. 

"This is a great day, as it was out first-ever win in a preliminary round and against a European team," said Chile coach Mateo Garralda.

"We are really happy, we are living our dream; this is such an amazing moment."

Action in France is due to continue tomorrow with matches taking place across all four groups.