2010 European Open Championship

Partille – a city area in Gothenburg, Sweden, well known to handball fans – will be in the centre of youth handball interest over the next week. This year there is more than the yearly Partille Cup youth tournament.

On 9 July 2010 the Final Tournament Draw for the Men’s Handball World Championships 2011 in Sweden will take place.

And also the 2010 European Open Championship is organised by the European Handball Federation in collaboration with the Swedish Handball Federation and Partille Cup. The national team tournament for u-squads this year is a Women’s Under 18 competition.

As Brasil had to cancel their participation, 19 teams will play in 5 Preliminary Round Groups for the qualification to the Main Round or the Challenge Round.

A remarkable mode in the tournament, that takes place between 5- 10 July 2010, is the shootout. If knock-out games end in a draw, the shootout is not carried out in penalties but in one-on-one fast breaks – similar to Beach Handball.

Last year the European Open was held as a men’s Under 19 competition, in 2008 it was also a women’s Under 18 event. That time Norway took the title, followed by Spain and Hungary.

Links

More information on the 2010 European Open

More information on Partille Cup

More information on the 2010 Men’s Handball World Championship