ebt Finals in Stare Jablonki have begun

Until Sunday Stare Jablonki is the centre of European beach handball, as the ebt Finals take place in the Polish city on the shores of the nearby lake.

All 24 teams, 12 in the men's and 12 in the women's event, took to the sandy courts on the opening day.

In the men's competition, defending champions, Detono Zagreb, confirmed their supremacy and won their first two matches to take the top spot in group A at the end of the first day. Only one men's team managed the same feat: Serbian side BHC 2areg beat Nordlichter Beachhandball and Pinturas Andalucia BM Playa Sevilla and currently lead the pack in group B.

All teams play three more matches until Saturday morning, with the first four teams of each group eventually qualifying for the quarter-finals on Saturday evening.

In the women's event four teams kept a flawless record: Defending champions Club Balonmano Playa Algeciras and Multichem Szentendrei N.K.E in group A; Westsite Amsterdam and grupo llopis bmp sevilla in group B.

However, nothing is decided yet, as just like in the men's event there are three more matches to play before the quarter-finalists are known.

Men's event schedule & results

Women's event schedule & results

#dontworrybeachhappy kicks off

Coinciding with the start of the ebt Finals, the European Handball Federation has launched a new campaign, dubbed #dontworrybeachhappy, which runs from the end of May until the end of August.

#dontworrybeachhappy offers a plethora of activation, engagement and participation possibilities for players and fans alike on a weekly basis. Prizes will be awarded to weekly and monthly winners, with the final grand prize being a free trip to the EHF Champions Cup in October.

Weekly prizes include a beach towel, provided by the EHF's sports outfitter Salming, while the monthly winners can look forward to a full 'Salming beach pack', which includes a backpack, shirt, sunglasses, and much more.

The campaign runs exclusively on the EHF's beach handball accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

Make sure you follow them! The first challenge is 'Share your best beach handball selfie' and the entry period runs from 30 May (21:00 CET) to 10 June.