15.08.2016, 12:11
Croatia and Iceland last to reach main round at Croatia 2016

REVIEW: The preliminary round at the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2016 in Croatia has come to an end, with the hosts being among the last to qualify for the championship's main round

Croatia and Iceland last to reach main round at Croatia 2016

The entire focus was on Group C of the Men’s 18 EHF EURO 2016 when the tournament’s preliminary round drew to a close on Sunday.

Hosts Croatia, Iceland and Sweden fought for the two main round spots available from the group, while in the other three groups the teams that qualified for the main round had already been confirmed.

Iceland were first out of the blocks with their game against Czech Republic and their 32:25 win put them in a comfortable position.

A Swedish win against Croatia would then have put this group in a delicate position as three teams would have been on four points. However, Croatia held their opponents to a 31:31 draw which saw Croatia topping the group with five points, Iceland coming second with four and Sweden missing out on the main round with three points.

Furthermore, Croatia take two points (they won against Iceland 34:29) with them to the main round. In Group M2 they meet Germany and Serbia. Germany won their last game in Group D 25:18 and also start the main round with two points.

Main Round Group M1 is made up of Slovenia, France, Spain and Denmark. France beat Spain 29:27 and Slovenia won against Denmark 31:23 on Sunday, hence the two victorious teams will start the main round with two points on their tally.

Monday is a rest day at the Men’s 18 EHF EURO 2016 in Croatia. Matches resume on Tuesday in the main round and in the intermediate round for all teams that ranked third and fourth in the preliminary round.

All games are streamed live on the Croatian federation's Youtube channel.

Premiere for the EHF

For the European Handball Federation it is the first tournament that is played since a new system for theyounger age categories was introduced.

This means that at the end of the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2016 the three lowest ranked teams will be downgraded to the Men's 20 EHF Championships 2018, while the three winners of the Men's 18 EHF Championships in Georgia, Lithuania and Bulgaria (all 15 to 21 August) will be promoted to the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2018.

Matchdays for the main round are 16 and 17 August. The semi-finals are played on 19 August, the final will take place on 21 August.

In the main round matches throw off at 17:00 and 19:00 hrs local time in both groups. For more information also see the event's official website.

In the history of Men's 18 EHF EURO events since 1992, Croatia and Germany are the two most successful nations. They both have won two gold and one silver medal. In this ranking Spain are third with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

At the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014 in Poland, France came first ahead of Hungary and Spain.

TEXT: EHF / ts