Austria power through Czech Republic to join them in semi-finals, along with Montenegro and Latvia

All 11 teams in Podgorica finished their preliminary round campaigns yesterday with the hosts, and Austria, taking the top honours in their groups, while Czech Republic and Latvia finished as runners-up.

All games are streamed live and free on ehfTV.com, alongside a wealth of statistics on the official website and a live ticker.

Group A
Austria left no doubt about their qualification through to the semi-finals, jumping over Czech Republic into top spot in group A thanks to a 29:22 win with Marin Kopic top-scoring with five goals for the Austrians. The result also meant whatever happened in the Netherlands’ match against Moldova – which they won 33:22 – the Dutch could not progress.

In the other match, Bulgaria suffered further misery, losing by 20 against Kosovo (43:23) to finish rock-bottom, without any wins. Despite being just six behind at the break, the Kosovans turned on the style in a dominant second half, outscoring their opponents 23:9. Jon Muqolli scored 14 times for Kosovo to move to the top of the goalscoring charts in Montenegro.

Group B
Hosts Montenegro and Latvia could not be caught in first and second place going into the final matchday of the group stages and the hosts ensured another win, beating the Latvians by four goals (29:25) to win the group.

With bottom side Georgia not in action on the final matchday of the group of five teams, Slovakia and Turkey played off for third place, with the Turkish team, led by Doruk Pehlivan on 11 goals, winning comfortably.

Firing into the net
Moldova’s Roman Dodica remains the best goalscorer in Podgorica, with 52 goals, leading Kosovo’s Jon Muqolli (44) and Daviti Koriauli from Georgia, who stays on 42 strikes after his side did not play yesterday.

Next steps
A rest day today is followed by the 5-8 and 9-11 cross matches, and semi-finals tomorrow (Saturday 28 July) where Czech Republic will play Montenegro and Austria take on Latvia.

RESULTS – DAY 7
Thursday 26 July

Group A
Czech Republic vs Austria 22:29 (10:16)
Kosovo vs Bulgaria 43:23 (20:14)
Netherlands vs Moldova 33:22 (15:9)

Group B
Slovakia vs Turkey 27:38 (16:19)
Montenegro vs Latvia 29:25 (14:9)

Follow the Men’s 20 EHF Championship in Montenegro

Playing Schedule: http://eurohandball.com/ech/01-02/20/men/2018/round/1/Championship+-+MNE
ehfTV: https://www.ehftv.com/int/livestream-schedule/2018/july
Official website: http://www.ehfu20montenegro.me/

Photos: Zeljko Dragojevic