07.04.2016, 12:05
The stars of tomorrow take to the court

PREVIEW: From Friday to Sunday in eight qualification tournaments 32 teams fight for the 12 remaining spots at the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2016 in Denmark

The stars of tomorrow take to the court

It is the chance for Europe's up and coming handball talents to shine when the qualification for the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2016 takes place across Europe from Friday to Sunday this week.

The final tournament takes place in Denmark from 28 July to 7 August and with Denmark as organisers as well as France, Hungary and Spain (the teams ranked first to third at the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014) already qualified, there are twelve spots left for the teams in the qualification.

32 teams overall will be vying for these places over the next three days. They have been drawn to eight groups of four teams each; from Groups 1 to 4 the first two teams qualify, while only the first ranked team qualifies from Groups 5 to 8.

Lithuania host Group 1 with Germany, Russia and Kosovo as opponents.

"We don't know the teams from Lithuania and Kosovo that well yet, but we will find the time to analyse them before the tournament," said Germany coach Markus Baur. Two years ago it was Germany under Baur's guidance who won the Men's 20 EHF EURO in Austria.

"Russia are definitely the strongest opponents. They placed ahead of us at last year's Youth World Championship. They beat Croatia and tied with Denmark. That's a really tough game right at the start."

All German matches will be streamed live via the German Handball Federation's website.

In Group 2 Switzerland hosts FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Faroe Islands.

"FYR Macedonia and Montenegro are not easy to play against at all. We will need a strong defence and our attack has to be able to adapt to different strategies quickly. But we are looking forward to these games, the upcoming challenge," says coach Michael Suter.

In Group 3 last year's Youth World Championship bronze medallists Iceland meet hosts Poland as well as Italy and Bulgaria.

Slovenia, the silver medallist at the Youth World Championship 2015, have been drawn to Group 8 and will face Romania, Estonia and hosts Portugal.

Bosnia-Herzegovina will host Group 4 with Sweden, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Norway, while Slovakia will host Group 5 with Croatia, Slovakia, Finland and Ukraine.

Group 6 will be played in Georgia with Serbia, the hosts, Israel and Greece participating. Czech Republic will host Group 7, facing the Netherlands, Austria and Turkey.

TEXT: EHF / ts