European Beach Handball Championships look forward to exciting quarter-final clashes

The time for decisions has come at the 2013 European Beach Handball Championships as the tournament in the Danish city of Randers moves into its knock-out stages.

Eight teams each in the women's as well as the men's event had entered the main round which was played on Friday, 12 July, and determined the seeding for the upcoming quarter-final matches on Saturday.

In the women's event Ukraine and Hungary confirmed their status as tournament favourites, winning both of their respective matches and finishing on top of their groups.

Hungary beat Turkey as well as Spain 2:0, while Ukraine achieved the same result against Italy, but needed the shoot-out to overcome Denmark.

Ukraine will face Turkey in the quarter-final, while Hungary will play against Italy.

The Danish women's team had entered the main round undefeated but had to settle for third place in this phase, as they lost not only to Ukraine, but also to Norway.

They will meet the team from Spain in the quarter-final, which they managed to beat 2:1 in the group phase. However, on Saturday they will likely need to replace their strong goalkeeper Hanne Frandsen, who was injured in the match against Norway at the very end of the first half.

The fourth quarter-final will be played between Norway and Russia. An entire results overview, including the matches of the consolation round, can be can be found here.

Ukraine's men follow in the women's successful footsteps

In the men's event Denmark came out strong on Friday. After they had reached the main round only as third ranked team, they beat Hungary 2:0 and could rely on their strong nerves in the shoot-out against Serbia which granted them a 2:1 win.

Therefore going into the quarter-finals as one of the first ranked teams, they will meet Spain on Saturday, which they already beat 2:1 in the group phase.

Following in the footsteps of their successful women's team, the Ukraine men's team also finished first in their main round group despite a 0:2-loss in their match against Spain.

Ukraine will face Serbia in the quarter-finals.

The defending champions from Croatia finished second in main round group 1 and will face Norway in the quarter-final. The fourth quarter-final will be between Russia and Hungary.

An overall results overview, including the matches of the consolation round, can be found here.