Portugal to clash with hosts Lithuania in Women’s 17 Championship Final
Klaipeda in Lithuania enters its final day of competition in the Women’s 17 EHF Championship, the second tournament of the competition this summer after the past two days of matches. The winners between Portugal and Lithuania tomorrow will secure themselves a spot in the Women's 17 and 19 EHF EURO events in 2019.
All games will be live on ehfTV.com - click HERE for details.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
18-19 August
Group A
On Friday, the unbeaten Belarus side easily beat bottom side Georgia 29:16 (13:6), restricting the southern European side to just six first-half goals to set up a table-topping clash against the Portuguese in the final group game the following day.
In the second Group A match of the day, Portugal easily beat Turkey 40:25 (12:10) with Beatriz Fabiana Faria Sousa scoring nine goals and Eulalia Silva, 10. Zeynepnur Ulukoz struck eight goals for Turkey as her teammate and tournament top-scorer, Ed Nur Kilic, scored seven times.
“It was supposed to be tough game but we made it easy,” said Faria Sousa, who was named most valuable player for her side in the game. “We played well as a team and this is very important victory for us. Our main goal here is to win first place and reach the top division and playing fast is maybe our main weapon.”
A feisty game on the last day of the preliminary round saw Turkey beat Italy 37:28 (16:13) with Beyzanur Turkyilmaz scoring nine goals for the Turkish side and Violetta Vegni getting seven for the Italians. With 13 minutes remaining of the match Illayda Gursoy was shown a red card after picking up her third two-minute suspension of the match.
In the final group A game, Portugal made it two wins in two days, beating Belarus 31:24 (19:12) to confirm their place in the final, Faria Sousa top-scored again for the Iberian team on eight goals, while Darya Voranava scored six for Belarus.
The results mean Portugal finish top of the group on eight points, Turkey and Belarus have five each in second and third, Italy on two points in fourth and Georgia end bottom with zero.
Group B
Finland beat Ukraine 26:22 (12:8) with Matilda Peistaro scoring six for the Finnish side on Friday (18 August) goals, Oleksandra Zholobovych scored the same for their opponents, Ukraine. In the second match of the day hosts Lithuania easily dispatched Great Britain 42:22 (20:10) as Ausra Spone struck nine times and Storm Judge delivering seven times for the British.
Malena Heikkinen grabbed five goals for Finland as they won their second game in two days earlier this evening, beating Finland vs Latvia 28:19 (13:7). Their neighbours across the Baltic, Latvia, had Leticija Veinberga to thanks for seven strikes.
In the grand finale of the group, home fans were extremely happy as Lithuania sealed their final place, beating Ukraine 28:21 (12:7) when, due to mathematics in the table, the could have lost by up to five goals and still sealed a place in the final. Milana Shukal and Yana Borysevych both slotted home six times while Akvile Tolvaisaite scored five.
The two days of results, complete Group B and mean Lithuania finish top on eight points, Finland on six points, Ukraine in third (4 points), Great Britain (2) and Latvia (0).
The Placement Matches 5-10 take place tomorrow (Sunday 20 August) with Georgia vs Latvia (11:00hrs), Italy vs Great Britain (13:00) and Belarus vs Ukraine (15:00).
The bronze medal match between Turkey and Finland will throw-off at 17:00 and the final, between hosts Lithuania and Portugal starts at 19:00hrs – all time are local to Lithuania.
Follow the Women's 17 EHF Championship - Lithuania
Official website: http://klaipeda2017ehf.com/
Official Facebook (Lithuanian Handball Federation): https://www.facebook.com/lturankinis/
ehfTV: http://www.ehftv.com/int/league/womens-17-ehf-euro-championships-2017/48
Photos: Lithuanian Handball Federation
TEXT: EHF
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