Greece and Israel open with clear wins

Greece and Israel took the first steps towards the next phase of the qualification for the EHF EURO 2018 in France. The Greek hosts left no doubt in Group A as they defeated Finland by nine goals, while Israel were in no big trouble either as they beat Georgia by four in Group B.

GROUP A
Greece vs Finland 29:20 (16:11)

Greece were the better team from the start, much to the pleasure of the home crowd. The vivid Greek attacking play was generally too tough for the Finnish defence.

After leading 2:0 and 5:2 at the start, Greece continued to be in the driver’s seat for the rest of the first half, and led by 16:10 shortly before half time.

Greece continued to dominate the match in the second half, leaving no doubt which team would take the two points.

The Greeks had their biggest lead of 11 goals - 28:17 - shortly before the end.

Centre back Lamprini Taskalou scored seven goals for Greece, while four players all scored three goals for Finland.

Greece will be playing again on Saturday, taking on the Faroe Islands who will be Finland´s opponents on Sunday.

GROUP B
Georgia vs Israel 27:31 (10:14)

Georgia only had 11 names on their team sheet, and with one exception, they were all just teenagers.

After nearly 10 years without a women´s national team, Georgia are building a new team around mainly under-17 and under-19 players.

Despite their lack of experience, the Georgians were able to get a fine start against Israel, leading 2:0 and 3:1.

Soon, however, Israel took over and were leading by five goals at 12:7 before taking a four-goal advantage with them to the dressing room at the half-time buzzer.

Israel also had the initiative in the last 30 minutes. At several points they were leading by seven goals, but the young Georgian team did not give in and managed to reduce the deficit to four goals at the end.

Left back Lee Ben Itzhak scored nine goals for Israel, while Ketia Kunelashvili and Anna Kvelashvili scored six each for Georgia.

The group continues on Saturday as Kosovo play Georgia, before Israel and Kosovo will conclude with their match on Sunday.