Spain and the Netherlands on track for title defence

The reigning U16 European beach handball champions could very well also top the podium at the U17 EURO in Croatia.

On Saturday, Spain's boys reached the semi-finals following a 2:1 (22:19, 19:21, 8:6) win against Italy. The Netherlands beat Lithuania 2:0 – in the six games they played to date, they have only lost one set.

"We are a great team. We always manage to make something big and the feeling is amazing. Spain are going to win this championship because we have been working hard for almost a year. I think that with a lot of concentration and courage we can achieve our goal,“ said Spain's Luis Mosquera.

On Sunday, Spain will face Germany in the semi-final at 10:30 hrs in the morning. Germany's girls will be the opponents for the Netherlands in their semi-final at 9:00 hrs. Germany beat Russia 2:1 in the quarter-finals.

All semi-final and the finals in the afternoon are streamed live on youtube.com/ehfTV.

In the second men's semi-final Hungary face Russia, while the second women's semi-final is played between Portugal and Hungary.

Russia reached their semi with a 2:0 win against Portugal, while Hungary beat hosts Croatia in what was arguably the most exciting match on Saturday.

Hungary had won the first set 21:17 but Croatia bounced back and took the second 20:15. Ten attempts each were then eventually needed to decide the shoot-out. Hungary failed only once to win the shoot-out 18:16.

In the women's event, Hungary beat Spain in the quarter-finals 2:1 and Portugal beat Romania 2:1.

The women's final is scheduled for 16:00 hrs and the men's final for 17:00 hrs on Sunday.