The crowd did not take long to wake up this morning as Republic of Korea earned a last-gasp draw with reigning gold medallists Norway in a thrilling Group B encounter.
The Scandinavians had been on course for a second win of the tournament after 11 goals from Linn Jorum Sulland had inspired them to a 27-26 lead going into the final moments.
But Republic of Korea, who had come in to the game with a 100 per cent record, ensured they remained unbeaten thanks to Ryu Eun Hee's goal with 15 seconds to go, which left Norway with no chance to respond.
That set the standard for what was to come, and later on Spain held off a comeback by Denmark to register their first victory.
They looked to be on course for a comfortable win when leading 21-15 midway through the second half but the Scandinavians rallied, hauling it back to 22-20 in the final three minutes and were playing without a recognised goalkeeper when attacking as they chased the game.
Spain scored twice in the final two minutes to give them a four-goal cushion and they saw it out to move above Denmark in the table.
Elsewhere, Montenegro sent themselves to the verge of quarter-final qualification with victory over Angola in Group A.
The African champions more than held their own in an entertaining encounter, and led 14-13 at the break. However, the eastern Europeans asserted their authority after the restart throwing in a salvo of unanswered goals to establish an unassailable lead.
Bojana Popovic and Katarina Bulatovic bagged six goals apiece to finish as top scorers for Montenegro, while Angola's Azenaide Carlos threw in seven.
France maintained their unbeaten record as they defeated Sweden in Group B, 29-17.
Having beaten Norway and snatched a last-gasp draw with Spain in their opening two matches, France controlled from the off, with five unanswered goals establishing an 8-3 advantage midway through the first half - and they never looked back.
Brazil proved too strong for Hosts Great Britain, whose women's team produced their best display of the Olympic Games so far, but still went down to a 30-17 defeat.
In the final game of the night, Croatia took a huge stride towards quarter-final qualification with an impressive 30-28 win over reigning silver medallists Russia.
Russia, who have already made the quarter-finals, had laid the foundations of victory by surging to an 8-3 lead by the 13th minute, but a strong second 15 minutes of the first half saw Croatia level at 15-15 by the midway hooter.
Vladimir Canjuga's side then had the better of the second half and threw in two sets of three unanswered goals to open up a four-goal lead with 15 minutes to play.
That proved too much for Russia to claw back, although they were able to reduce their deficit to two goals.
Croatia's Andrea Penezic had a night to remember by throwing in 10 goals, leaving them needing one point to qualify for the last eight.
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