Tagged: men

And then there were 16 … and no Germany. Qualifying for Euro 2014 sorted.

There will be something a little unusual about the 11th Men’s European Handball Championship.  There will be no Germany.  The three-time World Champions and 2004 European winners finished third in their qualifying group and so will not be making the short hop over to Denmark.  Sixteen of their fellow continentals did make it though (if we include Iceland as being ‘continental’) although Denmark had already done the decent thing and qualified as hosts and champions.

There was a bit of last-day drama: in the last game of the process Macedonia beat Portugal and so leapfrogged over their Iberian guests; Austria had an emotional win over Russia but they both qualified anyway with Russia taking the only ‘best loser’ slot; Belarus won in Slovenia to snuff out the latter’s chances of taking their place.

The final list therefore looks like this: Denmark, France, Spain, Iceland, Sweden, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Belarus, Austria, Russia and Macedonia.  There are no teams making their first appearance but it is the first time Austria have qualified – their only previous appearance was when they were hosts.

The tournament will start on 14 January next year – about three weeks after the Women’s World Championship finishes in Serbia.  There is likely to be exceptionally good coverage via ehftv who do these things very well indeed.

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Hamburg win a handball Champions League final for the ages

So who had HSV Hamburg for the title then?  Not just when the Final 4 was drawn and it was clear they would have to beat the big beasts of THW Kiel and FC Barcelona but back in September when they only just edged the Wild Card tournament final (coming from behind to beat hosts Saint-Raphaël Var) and then pitched into a group that included Flensburg-Handewitt, Montpellier, Reale Ademar Leon and Chekhovskiye Medvedi.  But, despite all those obstacles, HSV have earned the right to be called European champions.

The Velux Final 4 had a bit of everything in the end.  It had the relatively easy semi-final that showcased the grit of the victors: Barcelona on the back of 8 from Rutenka always had the edge over the Poles of Vive Targi Kielce.  It had the semi-final with the result you didn’t see coming: Domagoj Duvnjak inspiring his Hamburg team-mates with 11 goals and Hamburg emerging victorious from a goal-fest.  The Zebras almost unable to work out what had gone wrong.  And then, in the third-place play off it had a confusion of names Kiel/Kielce (just me?) and the underdogs almost but not quite throwing away a 9 goal lead but hanging on – Kielce thus finished 3rd, Kiel 4th.  And the main drama still to come.

If Hamburg’s semi-final had been a goal-fest the first half of the final was a defence-fest and one that looked like going the way of the Catalans.  But with the first five minutes of the second half having more drama than the entire first  the game swung.  Twice Barcelona were pegged back only to take the lead again.  Across the court were contests – not least in the goal.  Sterbik in the Barcelona goal proved almost impossible to fire past whereas the athletic Bitter for Hamburg found his blocking limbs.  Heading into the final stages Hamburg somehow had a four goal lead with a fast break that could have made it five … but Jansen missed and within the blink of an eye (it seemed) we were all tied.  With the score at 25:24 Rutenka had a shot saved by Bitter but the rebound went straight back to him rather than the defence and making no mistake a second time we moved to extra time.

This was the first final to be decided in extra time and by now the crowd had discovered its German patriotism.  I doubt there was a neutral across Europe wanting any result other than a victory for Martin Schwalb’s men.  All were to get their wish but not before ten minutes of tension were played out.

As always seems to happen the scoring slowed.  Neither side wanting to allow the other to dictate the pace.  Hamburg caught a break when awarded a 7m penalty for a phantom foul and when Lindberg (the tournament’s top scorer) hit it to put HSV in front that was that.  Just the small matter of a Bitter save, a Barcelona steal, a shot over the top and a final attempt after time up to cram into the remaining 120 seconds.  Hamburg had earned the right to cling on.  Their joy was unconfined, Barcelona looked shell-shocked.

“So much drama …” said ehftv commentator Tom O’Brainnagain.  He was right.  This was a final that reminded you of the straightforward magnificence of sport in general and the brutal beauty of handball in particular.

Want to see it again?  Oh, go on …

Champions League update …

If you haven’t already done so locate the a full replay of the Fuechse Berlin v Barcelona match and don’t answer the phone for the next two hours.  Your life will be much better for it.

Having done that, let’s look over this weekend’s results in the men’s and women’s Champions League – and also see the fixtures for this week’s matches.  Starting with the men …

The leadership of Group A switched hands following the draw between Chekhovskiye Medvedi and HSV Hamburg – their second tie in the group stage.  The lack of winner opened the way for SG Flensburg-Handewitt who took advantage by overwhelming Partizan Belgrade.  Those three have qualified.  The fourth place is between Ademar Leon of Spain and Montpellier.  In their head-to-head it was the Spaniards who emerged victorious 30:28.  Both teams now sit on five points with two matches remaining.

Group B remains tight with only the super soaraway leaders of MKB Veszprém and the annoyingly consistent THW Kiel assured of qualification.  They both won again at the weekend – by a combined margin of 21 goals.  Atletico Madrid did their qualification chances no harm at all with a win over Celje Pivovarna Laško – realistically with 8 points they are now through.  The other three can scrap amongst themselves for the final qualifying berth.

Two teams in Group C have a solitary win to their name but at least one of those, Chambery, can also say they have known only victories in 2013.  They will need two more wins and a lot of luck to overturn the team they beat, Bjerringbro-Silkeborg of Denmark, but at least they are still alive.  Gorenje, Metalurg and Vive Targi Kielce are already through.

In Group D we had the aforementioned belter between Fuechse Berlin and the Catalan Supermen.  It ended with victory for the Germans.  Somehow.  Elsewhere, Croatia Zagreb have appealed the result in their defeat to Dinamo Minsk based on a player returning prematurely in the 2 minutes and Kadetten Schahffhausen smashed Pick Szeged.  It’s one from Zagreb, Szeged and Schaffhausen for the final spot.

We’re into the Main Round (Second Group Stage) in the women’s Champions League.  In Group A, the powerhouses are looking powerful.  Larvik have now won two from two and this time out edged a tight one in Buducnost.  Gyori Audi had an occasionally tough and always noisy game in Denmark in Randers but took the points.  It’s looking good for Gyori and Larvik to progress.

Similarly in Group B, two teams have two wins: Krim Ljubljana beat Romanian opponents Oltchim Ramnicu Vâlcea 28:24 and Ferencvaros (they’re called FTC Rail Cargo Hungaria for sponsorship kicks) edged a very close one (but not defensively great) against the Russians Zvezda Zvenigorod.

This week’s fixtures which will all be covered live (and legal) by ehftv.com – over on Premier Sports it looks like ice hockey is being shown when the match of the week would be on so we’re internet-only in the UK – are below:

Men
Wednesday 6pm (UK): SG Flensburg-Handewitt – Reale Ademar Leon
Thursday 7pm – Kadetten Schaffhausen v Fuechse Berlin
Saturday 3pm – St Petersburg v Metalurg
Saturday 3.15pm – Barcelona v Croatia Zagreb
Saturday 3.30pm – Celje Pivovarna Lasko – HCM Constanta
Saturday 4pm – Vive Targi Kielce – Chambery
Saturday 4.15pm – Pick Szeged v Dinamo Minsk
Saturday 6pm – Partizan Belgrade – HSV Hamburg
Sunday 4pm – Atletico Madrid v IK Savehof
Sunday 4pm – Bjerringbro-Silkeborg – Gorenje Velenje
Sunday 6pm – THW Kiel – MKB Veszprem (Match of the Week – Commentary in English)
Sunday 6pm – Montpellier – Chekhovskiye Medvedi

Women
Saturday 4.45pm – Larvik v Gyori Audi
Saturday 5pm – Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea  v Zvezda Zvenigorod
Sunday 2.15pm – Krim Liubljani v Ferencvaros Rail Cargo Hungaria
Sunday 6pm – Randers v Buducnost

A feast(ish) of European handball today for British viewers …

Fear the Bear of Chekhov. Fear it.

Blimey …  you wait for months for some Champions League handball and then three matches come along at once.  If this was US primary season they’d be calling it Super Thursday.  As it is, we’ll just direct you to the three games you can see today via the good people at EHF TV (free, uninterrupted but no commentary).

(A recap: this is match round 8 of the group stage.  As there are six teams per group there are ten matches and four qualifiers.  Quite a lot of the qualification, if not placings, has already been decided).

We start at 2.45pm with Chekhovskie Medvedi at home to HSV Hamburg.  The two teams top their group and drew 27:27 in Hamburg back in October.  The “Chekhov Bears” (and indeed HSV) have lost to German opposition in the Champions League this year – away t0 Flensburg-Handewitt.  Providing the two teams play to their best and field first teams this should be a close one.

That’s followed at 6.30pm by another match from Group A.  Partizan Beograd (Belgrade) recorded a home win over Spanish opposition in October but haven’t collected a single point away from home so far.  Today they are at Flensburg-Handewitt whose two drawn matches prevent them occupying top spot.  This one should not be close.

Finally, at 7pm, a match that could mean a lot for qualification.  Pick Szeged have four points, Kadetten Schaffhausen have 2.  In their previous encounter in Hungary, Szeged won by the odd point in 59.  Schaffhausen’s sole win was at home and if they repeat that today they will be back in the mix for the fourth and final qualifying spot in this group.

Spain demolish Denmark to take the world title

I predicted a close one, I was wrong.  There aren’t many in Barcelona tonight who will care.

In the most one-sided final in the history of the competition, Spain were the winners in front of an ecstatic home crowd.  The most significant damage was done in the second quarter as a one-goal match turned into a 18:10 lead for Spain over the suprisingly underwhelming Danes.  Joan Canellas top-scored for the Spanish with 7 and he and his fellow attackers were backed up by a stingy defence and some excellent goalkeeping.

20,000 saw the match in the hall – no doubt a few million more across Spain saw it on TV.  It’s the biggest story on the El Pais site right now.  The boost that Spanish handball maybe needed.  The Danes may be sore but they can look forward to next year and being Euro 2014 hosts.

For now, though, the glory is all Spain’s.

 

Croatia takes the bronze

Seven unanswered goals in the first ten minutes of the second half turned what had been a fairly even and compelling match between beaten semi-finalists Croatia and Slovenia into a one-sided stroll.  Croatia took it from 14:14 to 21:14 before eventually taking the match 31:26.  Domagoj Duvnjak again top-scored for the Croats, this time with 9 goals.

World Championship Final – Preview and TV details

Arpad Sterbik – the Spanish goalkeeper who would presumably like to be smiling this broadly at full time

2013 World Championship Final
Spain v Denmark

4.15pm (UK), Sunday 27 January, Palau Saint Jordi

Live on Premier Sports (Sky Channel 428 – free) and on bet365.com live streaming

So, here we are then.  The European Champions against the hosts in a battle for the world title.  Spanish handball had so much riding on its first ever hosting of the World Championship.  Despite the strength of the top teams in the Asobal the rest of the league hasn’t had such an easy ride and there were fears that the public’s attention may be wandering …  Hopefully a sell out of 16,500 in Barcelona and a clear shot on a Sunday afternoon should go some way to reminding the good people of Spain of the great game they have in their midst.  And, hopefully as well, they will get to see a classic final regardless of who emerges triumphant.

Denmark came so close two years ago.  France defeated them in extra time.  But, since then, they’ve had experience in winning despite a passionate home crowd urging them to defeat – their taking of the Euro 2012 crown came against the hometown Serbs and their deafening support.  Perhaps significantly (though perhaps not) Denmark beat Spain in the semi finals in Serbia – and whilst their matches have always been close (the average difference is under 2 goals) it is Denmark who have won six of their last seven meetings.

None of those matches were in Spain in a home World Championship though.

Spain have clearly relished the crowd.  In their match against Serbia, for example, it seemed to be the extra man forcing opposition fumbles and propelling fastbreaks in response.  When they fell behind against Germany it’s hard to see how their momentum back into the game could have been maintained without the surging insanity of the home support.  Things might have been more straightforward against Slovenia but then the Slovenes can’t have enjoyed that every moment that something didn’t go their way the crowd reacted as if someone had given the title to Spain.  For all the Spain are a strong side without the added extra the home advantage brings it would be hard to predict a victory for them.

Spain have scored the second most goals in the tournament: 245 in 8 matches.  Want to guess which team beats them and has a significantly better scoring percentage in doing so?  In Albert Rocas and Victor Tomas, Spain have two great counter-attack shooters and 7m takers.  On the other hand, Denmark have Anders Eggert who has 23/24 from the penalty line.  Both teams move the ball nicely to the wing when needed but have a good variety of attacking options – but maybe Denmark have the upper hand in being able to call on Mikkel Hansen to impose himself when needed.  His tournament has been a bit underwhelming so far by his talismanic standards – Spain will hope it remains that way.

In defence, again, they are similar but you’d have to give Denmark the edge.  Spain have a save percentage of 34%; Denmark 37%.  The stat that could be significant in a match where turnovers and pounces on mistakes could be critical is that Denmark have done a much better job at preventing opposition fastbreaks turning into goals.  Against Croatia, as well, it was noticeable that Denmark were able to (fairly) physically impose themselves into a game to prevent attacks spreading; Spain failed that test against Croatia and it resulted in their only defeat in the tournament.  They’ve not faced a similar team since but Denmark will need to be stopped somehow.

So, there will be goals.  Lots of goals.  Spain will be hoping for more and more because if the game is high scoring it’ll mean the Danish defensive strengths aren’t working and we’ll be in a shooting match that either team could win.  A tighter or more controlled game – one that silences the crowd for stretches – and you’d have to back Denmark.

But, honestly, this could go either way.

What the bookies say: Too close to call for the end of 60 minutes result; Denmark marginal favourites overall
What Handball Views says: Denmark. Spain. Denmark. Spain.

World Championship Final – live on free TV in the UK

Bless the good people at Premier Sports.  The World Championship Final between Spain and Denmark will be live from 4.05pm (match starts 4.15pm) on Sunday 27 January on Sky Channel 428.  Free to anyone as well as they’re having a freeview weekend.

Huzzah!