17.08.2016, 10:21
First teams reach semi-finals at EHF Championships

REVIEW: At the Men's 18 EHF Championship in Georgia all semi-finalists are already confirmed, while in Lithuania, Austria and Israel have already confirmed their spot among the last four

First teams reach semi-finals at Men's 18 EHF Championships

The second day at the Men's 18 EHF Championships in Georgia and Lithuania brought the first decisions, as six teams - Bosnia-Herzegovina. Romania, Belarus, Montenegro, Austria and Israel - already qualified for the semi-finals.

At the Lithuania tournament, Austria made the step into the last four with 26:24 win against the hosts in Group B. Just two hours before Israel had reached the semis as well with a 26:22 win against Greece. For Israel and Austria it was the second win at the event.

In Group A nothing is decided yet. On Tuesday, Moldova beat Estonia 27:24 and Italy drew with the Netherlands 23:23. WIth the Netherlands on three points, Estonia and Moldova on two and Italy on one, the semi-final spots in this group will only be confirmed on Thursday when Italy face Moldova and Estonia play the Netherlands.

At the EHF Championship in Georgia all four semi-finalists are known. On Tuesday, Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Latvia 36:27 and Romania beat Georgia 35:23 to secure the first two places in Group A. Both teams have now four points on their tally and will meet on Thursday to decide who comes out on top.

In Group B Belarus (40:29 against Great Britain) and Montenegro (27:19 against Belgium) also recorded their second consecutive win at the event to secure the semi-final spot. Just like in Group A they will meet on Thursday to battle it out for the top position.

The EHF Championship in Bulgaria is played with 11 teams, drawn to one group of five teams and one with six teams, and hence in a different format. After the completion of the preliminary round, the two first ranked teams meet in the final.

After two matchdays Hungary lead Group A with four points and Turkey are top of Group B with four points as well.

Wednesday is a rest day in Georgia and Lithuania, but competition continues in Bulgaria.

Live streams and live ticker

Matches from all three tournaments are streamed live. The streams can accessed via the respective official website for each event.

• Official website for the Men's 18 EHF Championship in Bulgaria
• Official website for the Men's 18 EHF Championship in Georgia
• Official website for the Men's 18 EHF Championship in Lithuania

The EHF live ticker is also available for these matches.

For the European Handball Federation the Men's 18 EHF EURO in Croatia and the three Championships are the first tournaments that are played since a new system for the younger 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 will be promoted to the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2018.

TEXT: EHF / ts