Macedonians book the ticket, Montenegro stopped by weather chaos

Completely different fates for two Balkan neighbours in the European qualification for the Men's U21 World Championship in Algeria. While the lucky Macedonians booked their ticket by winning the qualification tournament on home ground on Friday, the Montenegrin team cannot play their matches at the qualification tournament in Vienna.

Since Thursday, the heavy winter weather conditions stopped their plane from departing to the Austrian capital.

According to EHF competitions manager Markus Glaser, the three Montenegrin matches will be cancelled, the tournament will be carried out with three teams – Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic – only. The playing times of the remaining matches stay the same as scheduled.

On the other hand, FYR Macedonia made their dream come true on Friday with a 39:19 win against Turkey to finish ahead of the Portuguese team, equal in points after a 21:21 draw in the direct duel.

Both sides had – surprisingly clearly – beaten the favoured Polish side, which finished on the third position with two points. In the final ranking, even the 34:21 victory over Poland was not enough, as in total the Macedonians had scored two more goals.

They follow the teams from France, Spain, Germany, Croatia and Norway, which had qualified directly for the U21 World Championship in Algeria (17 to 30 July).

The remaining six tournaments started on Friday and will conclude on Sunday.