REVIEW: The ebt Finals 2017 have thrown off in the Italian city of Gaeta and already the tournament’s first day provided all what beach handball is about: great weather and plenty of artistic action
Fun, sun and hard-fought matches on first day of ebt Finals
20 teams, 10 in the men’s and 10 in the women’s event, have gathered in the Italian city of Gaeta for the ebt Finals 2017, and for all of them it was crunch time on Friday as the first preliminary round matches were played.
The opening game of the men’s event was an encounter of two beach handball heavyweights as 2015 EHF Champions Cup winners Russia “Ekaterinodar” faced ebt Finals record winners Detono Zagreb.
Eventually the Croatian side won the game 2:1 and is the only men’s team left in the competition that has not lost a point yet. They top Group B with two wins from as many games.
In Group A, BHT Auto Forum Plock top the table with two wins and one loss after three matches. The first two teams of each group will reach the semi-finals on Sunday.
These four teams may have already been decided in the women’s event as in Group A as well as in Group B there are two teams each that have not lost a game yet.
Multichem Szentendrei and Club Balonmano Playa Algeciras jointly sit on top of Group A with two wins from two games, and so do Westsite Amsterdam and the OVB Beach Girls in Group B.
However, A.C. Spartacus Goalbet from Greece, the silver medallists of the ebt Finals 2016, are still within striking distance.
They are currently placed third in Group A but have to win their two remaining matches to remain in contention.
The ebt Finals 2017 will resume at 11:00 hrs on Sunday. Matches are streamed live on the youtube.com/ehfTV. For immediate updates, the beach live ticker is available.
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EHF / ts