Far from a medal favorite, Japan pulled off a bit of a shocker in women's handball group play Tuesday at the Tokyo Games.

Making its first Olympic appearance since the 1989 Montreal Games, the host country edged "old continent" traditional powerhouse Montenegro, 29-26 in Group A action at Yoyogi National Stadium.

Brazil, the 2019 Pan Am Games champion, got past Hungary 33-27 in an exciting Group B battle the second match of the session, and Sweden, coming off an impressive run through Olympic qualifying, closed things out with a 36-24 drubbing of the Russian Olympic Committee, also in Group B.

In other women's scores:

Netherlands 43, South Korea 36

Norway 30, Angola 21

Spain 28, France 25