EHF Championships get off to successful start in Bulgaria, Georgia and Lithuania
No less than 26 teams took to the court when the first Men's 18 EHF Championships got off to a successful start in Bulgaria, Georgia and Lithuania on Monday.
However, it was a first day that was not too lucky for the respective hosts, with only Bulgaria winning their opening game. They beat Faroe Islands 20:19 in Varna, while Georgia lost 32:19 to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lithuania went down 22:21 against Israel.
Hungary recorded by far the biggest win on Monday when they beat Armenia 56:7 in Group A at the EHF Championship in Bulgaria.
Also starting victorious at the Bulgaria event were FYR Macedonia with a 36:17 win against Cyprus and Ukraine with a 22:11 win against Kosovo in Group A as well as Turkey who beat Luxembourg 31:24 in Group B.
In Georgia, Romania beat Latvia in Group A 32:28. In Group B, Belarus had the upper hand against Belgium 39:24 and Montenegro beat Great Britain 38:23.
Last but not least, in Lithuania the team from the Netherlands beat Moldova 38:33 while Estonia beat Italy 23:18 in Group A. In Group B, besides Israel's win against Lithuania, Austria beat Greece 32:24.
Live streams and live ticker
There are 11 teams (one group of five and one of six teams) competing in Bulgaria and eight each (two groups of four) in Georgia and Lithuania.
After the completion of the preliminary round in Bulgaria, the first ranked teams of Groups A and B will play the final. In Lithuania and Georgia, the first two teams of each group qualify for the semi-finals while the remaining ones will play the placement matches.
Matches from all three tournaments will be streamed live. The streams can accessed via the respective official website for each event.
The EHF live ticker is also available for these matches.
The preliminary round in Bulgaria is played from 15 to 20 August, with a rest day on 18 August. The final takes place on 21 August.
The preliminary round in Georgia and Lithuania is played on 15, 16 and 18 August. The semi-finals take place on 20 and the final on 21 August.
For the European Handball Federation the Men's 18 EHF EURO in Croatia and the three Championships are the first tournaments that are played since a new system for the younger age categories was introduced.
This means that at the end of the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2016 the three lowest ranked teams will be downgraded to the Men's 20 EHF Championships 2018, while the three winners of the Men's 18 EHF Championships will be promoted to the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2018.
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EHF / ts