Reigning Olympic champion Denmark beat Angola 38-22 in women's handball preliminary Monday night and finished second in pool B.

Denmark is now facing China on Thursday in the quarterfinals, while Angola, who finished fifth in group B, will play against Greece on the same day to decide the 9th and 10th place.

Denmark started the match very competitively, giving no chance to Angola and continued in the same way until the end.

"Denmark has the obligation to play well in every game," Jan Pytlick, coach of the Danish team, told reporters.

"It was not an important game for our ranking but an important one for our psychology. In every case we must give 100 percent of our potential," he added.

The Angolans expressed their disappointment, describing it as " a very bad game." Coach Pavel Dzhenev of the team said, "We are disappointed."

During the match, balanced scoring and an excellent goal percentage contributed to the comfortable victory for Denmark.

Ilda Bengue of Angola led the scoring for her team with eight goals while her teammate Elzira Tavares scored five goals out of six attempts.