15.01.2012, 10:38
Three Teams Qualify for WCh Play-Offs

Austria, Montenegro and the Netherlands have qualified for the 2013 World Championship play-offs – the Dutch with a close away victory, while the others had no problems with their home matches.

The first three teams have qualified for the European play-off matches as they bid to qualify for the 2013 World Championship in Spain: Austria, Montenegro and the Netherlands. The final four places in the next round will be decided after the final Round 6 group matches on Sunday.

The seven winners of the those qualification groups will meet those 11 non-qualifying teams from the 16 taking part in the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia.

The teams which will automatically qualify for the final tournament in Spain are:

France (defending champions), Spain (host) and the three best ranked teams from the EHF EURO 2012.

The playing dates for the nine play-off matches are:
First leg: 9/10 June 2012
Second leg: 16/17 June 2012

The nine winners of the play-off matches will qualify for the 2013 Men's World Championship in Spain, where 14 European teams will battle among a total of 24 teams.

The draw for the play-off matches will take place on the final day of the EHF EURO 2012 on 29 January 2012 in Belgrade. The draw procedure will be published after the completion of the preliminary round.

Final qualification matches/Round 6:

Group 1:
Austria vs. Israel 31:22 (13:9)

Thanks to this easy victory Austria have reached the Play-offs after four victories from four matches. Israel proved no hurdle after the 40:31 away victory. The win was never under threat from the Israeli team, and once again the Austrians could give plenty of playing time to their young guns.

Group 3:
Montenegro vs. Latvia 32:28 (15:14)

After their close 31:30 away victory in Latvia in Round 5, Montenegro did not have many problems with the Baltic team on home ground. Even though the match was close until the break, the hosts decided the fate of game in the middle of the second half with the score at 23:18, and they went on to make it four wins from four games.

Group 4:
Estonia vs. Netherlands 28:29 (13:14)

11 goals from top star Mait Patrail was not enough to put Estonia into the Play-offs. In a thrilling match of two equal teams, the Netherlands were the lucky winner in the end. A draw would have been enough for the guests after the 35:35 in the Neherlands, but in the end the Dutch team managed to get both points in Polva. The match winner was goalkeeper Gerrie Ejlers, who played superbly.

The final groups matches of Round 6 on Sunday:

Group 2:
Portugal vs. Ukraine
Sunday, 15 January, 15:00 hrs local time, Espinho

Group 5:
Lithuania vs. Switzerland
Sunday, 15 January,19:00 hrs local time, Vilnius

Group 6:
Greece vs. Bosnia Herzegovina
Sunday, 15 January, 20:00 hrs local time, Thessaloniki

Group 7:
Belarus vs. Romania
Sunday, 15 January, 14:30 hrs local time, Minsk

TEXT: Björn Pazen