Italy and Iceland top group rankings at Women's 17 EHF Championship

Iceland’s two-goal win over the Czech Republic handed them the top spot in Group A at the Women’s 17 EHF Championship in Italy as the preliminary round came to a close.

In Group B, Italy finished top after three wins, despite a loss to Belarus in their last match.

The results mean Italy will face the Czech Republic in the semi-finals, while Iceland will play Poland after the Poles triumphed over North Macedonia.

GROUP A

The battle for top of Group A came down to the match between Iceland and the Czech Republic on Wednesday. Iceland were first out of the blocks, scoring twice in the first minute of play, before the Czechs got themselves on the board.

Two goals apiece from Lucie Flekova and Michaela Smejova at the end of the first half were enough to put the Czechs ahead 12:11 at the break.

However Iceland’s Hanna Olafsdottir wasted no time in equalising as the match restarted. From 13:13 the Icelanders led for the rest of the game, eventually winning 26:24 thanks largely to a strong performance by centre back Asdis Agustsdottir, who scored 11 times.

Iceland went on to beat Kosovo 27:19 in their next game, while the Czechs made sure of their place in the semi-final by beating Turkey 34:20 in the group’s last match.

GROUP B

After North Macedonia beat Azerbaijan 30:23 and Poland took a narrow 27:26 win over Belarus, the clash between the two sides would decide which would progress to the semi-finals.

In the end there was little doubt of the result. A total of 11 Polish players scored as they sealed a decisive 34:20 win over North Macedonia.

Italy went into their last match unbeaten, and at half-time were in a narrow lead over Belarus. However the Belarusian side played a confident second half, moving back from 13:14 down to a 29:27 win over the hosts.

Although Italy and Poland both finished the preliminary round with six points, Italy take top spot by virtue of their win in the head-to-head between the two sides.

The semi-finals are played on Saturday, as well as placement matches. All the action can be watched live on ehfTV.com and followed on the official website, where the playing schedules can also be found.