Four teams still unbeaten as main round at Beach Handball EURO 2019 nears end

While winds and clouds make for relatively low temperatures on the sand courts in Stare Jablonki this week, the battle for quarter-final spots at the Beach Handball EURO 2019 has been firmly heating up on Thursday.

All teams in the men’s and the women’s events have one match left to book their tickets for the knock-out phase - if they haven’t already done so.

Only the Croatian and Hungarian men as well as the women’s teams from Denmark and Spain have won all their six matches so far, but as they are playing each other in the final match of the main round, two teams will see their winning streak come to an end on Friday.

All matches are streamed live on ehfTV.com and the scores can be followed on the dedicated beach handball liveticker.

Three teams through to quarter-finals

Three teams in the men’s event have secured their place in the quarter-final even before the last round of main-round matches.

In Group I Denmark are leading with six points after edging Germany 2:1 and beating Spain 2:0. Behind the Scandinavians a fierce battle for the top-four spots is guaranteed, with four teams all square on four points: Germany, Russia, Norway and Serbia.

Spain’s defeat against Denmark was their third this tournament, leaving the defending champions with two points at the bottom of the table and a must-win game against Serbia to stand any chance of advancing to the quarter-final.

In Group II Croatia and Hungary are on top with the maximum eight points and both have obviously qualified for the knock-out phase, regardless the outcome of their direct duel on Friday.

Behind the leading duo, Poland are on four points, followed by France and Switzerland on two each. Hosts Poland will take on Switzerland, while France face Ukraine, who are last with zero points in the last match.

Four quarter-final spots up for grabs

In the women’s event four of the eight quarter-final spots are up for grabs, when the 12 teams take the courts one more time in the main round on Friday morning.

In Group I, Netherlands and Croatia are joint leaders with six points each. Both teams made no mistakes on Thursday: the Dutch defeated Poland and Hungary 2:0, while Croatia beat Hungary 2:0 before dropping a set against Portugal, 2:1.

The race for the remaining two quarter-final places from this group remains wide open, with defending champions Norway and Hungary both on four points, followed by Portugal and Poland on two each.

Norway and Hungary will play each other, while Portugal (against Netherlands) and Poland (Croatia) face the already qualified top-two teams.

In Group II, Denmark and Spain continued their dominating role, and they share top spot with the maximum of eight points. They play against each other for the group win.

Ukraine (on four points) face world champions Greece (two), and Germany (two) take on Italy (zero) for a place in the top four and a ticket to the quarter-finals later on Friday.

Photos: Uros Hocevar / kolektiff / EHF