 15 teams secure their place in Poland
The U17 teams from Sweden, Spain, Romania, Czech Republic, Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Montenegro, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Norway, Slovakia and France came through qualification to book their tickets to the Women's 17 EHF EURO this August in Poland.
The draw for the final tournament will take place on the first weekend of April (6/7).
Eight tournaments with four teams each were played in a round-robin format from 22 to 24 March with the first two teams qualifying from Groups 1 to 7 and one team qualifying from Group 8.
Group 1 hosts Spain qualified in second place behind Sweden, who won each match with relative ease, beating the Spanish side 34:25 in the final game to claim top spot.
The hosts of Group 2, Czech Republic, also came second, this time behind Romania. The Czech’s narrow win against Turkey was enough to secure their berth in Poland.
Zvenigorod in Russia was the scene of the tightest group in the whole of qualification. Russia, Croatia and Slovenia all ended on four points after three matches, but Slovenia’s 41:28 defeat to defending champions Russia on the opening day relegated them to third and they did not qualify from Group 3.
Top spot in Group 4 was only decided on goal difference after the 2011 silver medallists Denmark and hosts Montenegro were evenly matched throughout. The sides drew 24:24 on the first day, but Denmark’s larger victories against Estonia and Austria gave first place.
Germany were the side with the best goal difference in the entire qualification round, with +64 after the three games, but not everything was so simple, as fellow qualifiers, the Netherlands, pushed them all the way in the final game, only losing by one goal. Group 5 hosts Iceland finished third, the only hosting nation to do so.
Portugal were a surprise package in Group 6, winning all three matches, including a 32:26 win over hosts Hungary on the final day. Hungary also qualified with relative ease, beating Lithuania and FYR Macedonia by 12 goals each.
 2011 bronze medallists, Norway, have ensured that they will be back competing for the championship in Poland after their comprehensive Group 7 win. The Norwegian girls won all three matches by at least 15 goals and qualified alongside tournament hosts Slovakia.
The only group with just one qualification place was won by France, who beat their closest rivals and Group 8 hosts Serbia 30:19 on the opening day, a match which both sides knew would be decisive so early in the tournament.
“First we were afraid about this match, because we thought that Serbia is good team and that it will be very difficult to win.
“It is surprise for us, but we are glad,” said France coach Pierre Mangin.
Serbia won their remaining games against Belarus and Finland, but join Iceland as the only tournament hosts not to qualify.
A detailed summary of all results can be found here.
Joining the 15 qualified teams in the finals will be hosts Poland. The Women's 17 EHF EURO will take place from 15 to 25 August 2013 in Gdansk and Gdynia. Click on the tournament website here.
TEXT: EHF / cor
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