SWEDEN (MEN) AND HUNGARY (WOMEN) WIN THE UNDER-17 BEACH HANDBALL EURO TITLES
Varna (Bulgaria) staged between 8 to 11 July 2021 thrilling matches for the European Youth Beach Handball titles. Fifteen teams participated in the Men’s and Women’s events, which were divided into three groups of four and one group of three for the preliminary round. The top two teams from all groups advanced to the two main round groups. The semi-finals and the medal matches followed these and were played on Saturday and Sunday.
Women
There were scenes of jubilation on day one for Bulgaria at the Under-17 EHF Beach Handball EURO as the host nation celebrated a victory overcoming Greece in a shootout. However, the solid performances of the Spanish and Ukrainian sides confirmed that these were the two top teams in Group A.
In Group B, Hungary had a strong start and secured the first place in the group without conceding a single set. France surprised the Croatian side, winning their match in the shootout and claiming the second position in their group.
The Netherlands and Germany snatched the first two positions in Group C, while Russia and Poland come first and second in Group D.
In the main round, the Netherlands won their main round opener against Spain in a dramatic shootout. Both teams beat their Group I rivals Poland and France and qualified for the semi-finals. In Group II, Hungary continued their winning streak, only conceding one set and comfortably qualifying for the semi-finals. The German team completed the Final Four coming out victorious in the matches against Russia and Ukraine.
In the semi-finals, the Netherlands dispatched Germany in two sets and Hungary only beat Spain after a penalty shootout. The first set of the final belonged to the Dutch, who were indebted to a series of fine saves from goalkeeper Veerie Meerstad. Those stops enabled the Netherlands to take the first set 25:20. Hungary began the second set on top and opened up a strong lead thanks to some excellent goalkeeping from Dorina Bartok. They maintained a five-point lead to take it to a shootout. The Hungarians took the initiative after the Dutch missed two penalties in a row. A miss-throw from the Hungary goalkeeper handed the Netherlands a lifeline with a chance to win the title. However, it was left to Kitti Kreuz to find the target with the one point the Hungarians needed with their final penalty to cue the celebrations.
See the Gold medal match highlights here and all results here.
Men
In the men’s competition, the 2019 medallists got off a slow start, with Croatia losing in a shootout to Poland and Hungary losing their opening two matches against Ukraine and Sweden, who were the two teams qualifying to the main round from Group B.
In Group C, Croatia secured second place in Group C, after winning against Romania and Greece and coming behind Poland. In Group A, Spain confirmed their role as favourites and did not concede a single set qualifying to the main round along the French team. The German and Russian sides left no chance to the host country and qualified from Group D to the main round.
Having won all three matches without dropping a set in the preliminary round, Spain’s youngsters recorded an impressive 18:10, 23:11 win over Poland to throw off their main round campaign in style. Sweden began the main round with a high-scoring straight-sets win over Germany. Sweden’s Victor Paldanius recorded an incredible 30 points in the 26:18, 34:31 win to give his side the perfect start in the main round.
As Group II winners, Sweden faced Ukraine in the semi-finals, after they sneaked through as runners-up in Group I. They had Russia to thank as their win over Poland ensured Ukraine finished in second place on two points. However, Sweden left no chance to the Ukraine side by winning both sets of the semi-final (28:20, 26:18)
Spain, whose under-17s won the last EHF Beach Handball EURO in 2019, also came through the main round finishing top of Group I and meeting Croatia in the semi-final after the Croatians beat Germany in a winner-takes-all final game in Group II. Spain arrived at the final without losing a single set and a clear victory over the Croatian team (27:22, 32:18)
In one of the most incredible finals in recent history, the Swedes – playing in their first tournament at junior level – fought back after losing the first set to Spain to win gold in breathtaking fashion. After chasing a third junior men’s title, Spain took the first set comfortably by nine points, stopping the tournaments’ top goalscorer, the Swedes’ Victor Paldanius, from adding to his tally.
But the drama began in a second set that looked to be heading Sweden’s way when they led by six points. Spain, however, got to within two points with 20 seconds left on the clock and then completed the comeback to level the score when Joaquin Varo Gallardo equalised with just four seconds remaining. That goal took the second set to a golden goal period and, after Sweden secured the ball from throw-off, that man Paldanius scored the one point required to take the game to a shootout.
What followed was a remarkable fight for the gold medal as both sides traded two-point penalties. After 16 perfect points for each team, Sweden was the first to miss. However, that was the cue for Johansson to leap out of his goal to deny Spain their shot at the title.
Back at 18 points apiece in the shootout, Johansson then re-enacted his best Superman impression with another brilliant diving save to tilt the scales in the Swede’s favour. It was then left to tournament goal-getter Paldanius to finish the job fittingly. The young Swede held his nerve to find the target to give Sweden a historic and memorable victory.
See the Gold medal match highlights here and all results here.
Final Rankings
Women’s
1. Hungary, 2. Netherlands, 3. Spain, 4. Germany, 5. Poland, 6. France, 7. Ukraine, 8. Russia, 9. Romania, 10. Bulgaria, 11. Lithuania, 12. Sweden, 13. Greece, 14. Croatia, 15. Slovenia.
Men’s
1. Sweden, 2. Spain, 3. Ukraine, 4. Croatia, 5. Germany, 6. Russia, 7. France, 8. Poland, 9. Czech Republic, 10. Netherlands, 11. Hungary, 12. Romania, 13. Greece, 14. Slovenia, 15. Bulgaria.
EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021
Until Sunday 18 July, it is the turn for the senior national teams. Six action-packed days in the largest resort on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast will determine this year’s European beach handball champions.
In the men’s competition, 18 teams vie for glory, while 17 teams will go for gold in the women’s competition.
Follow the live stream of the matches on all four courts in Varna on EHFTV.
Source: https://beach.eurohandball.com/
Photo credit: EHF
