Hungary, FYR Macedonia, Turkey en route to EHF Championship Final in Bulgaria
The Men's 18 EHF Championship in Bulgaria has reached its half-time with the majority of teams having played three matches each.
While nothing is decided yet, Hungary, FYR Macedonia and Turkey have currently the best chances to reach the tournament's final as all three have won all their matches to date and top the tables in Groups A and B respectively.
At Bulgaria 2016, the two group winners reach the final to play for a promotion to the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2018. There are no semi-finals.
Hungary secured three very dominant victories in Group A, however they have not been tested 100 per cent to yet. They started their campaign with a 56:7 win against Armenia, followed by a 41:18 against Kosovo and a 34:6 against Cyprus.
Their two remaining games will arguably be more difficult. On Friday they face Ukraine and Saturday's match against FYR Macedonia is likely to determine the group winners.
FYR Macedonia secured a very important win on Wednesday when they beat Ukraine 28:27. They had won their first matches 36:17 against Cyprus and 49:13 against Armenia. On Friday they face Kosovo.
In Group B Turkey have beaten Luxembourg 31:24 and the Faroe Islands 33:27. However, Finland are hot on their heels following a 29:29 draw against Luxembourg and a 26:25 win against Bulgaria.
Thursday is a rest day in Bulgaria while the group phase will come to an end today at the Men's 18 EHF Championships in Georgia and Lithuania.
Live streams and live ticker
Matches from all three tournaments are streamed live. The streams can accessed via the respective official website for each event.
The EHF live ticker is also available for these matches.
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.
TEXT:
EHF / ts