Favourites winning

Home advantage turned out to be a disadvantage in all five games of today´s qualification day. Romania outclassed Greece, Croatia and Sweden celebrated massive victories, whilst Poland fought hard against Montenegro. Olympic Games host Great Britain staged a tough fight against the Russians with a good quality performance that even surprised Russian coach Evgeny Trefilov.

Round 2, Day 1: 22 October 2011



Group 2



Greece vs. Romania 18:38 (8:16)

The home side, that wasn´t a great danger to Serbia in Round 1, clearly lost their second match, whilst Romania are with a maximum of four points after two rounds. Radu Voina´s team didn’t encounter any problems with a Greece team, ranked last in the group. A clear 6:0 start after eight minutes paved the way for success for the Romanians, and they were able to maintain that high level during the whole match. Florina Chintoan and Eliza Buceschi were the top scorers for the away team with six goals each, whilst for the home side, Athanasia Strataki and Lamprini Tsakalou scored five times. 



Group 3



Poland vs. Montenegro 27:31 (10:14)

The Montenegrins were in the lead for the whole period, and although Poland came as close as one goal in the dying minutes, the more experienced Montenegrins went all-out to win this tight duel. The more favoured Montenegro team made the better start thanks to a great performance from Katarina Bulatović, and Poland had problems in closing the zone for the Montenegrin attacks. The home side found the rhythm of the game and leveled the match, but Bojana Popović and her colleagues coped well with the Polish 5-1 and 3-2-1 defence and used every opportunity to score. The Montenegrins were able to control the game, leading throughout the match by 3-4 goals, and they extended the lead, 12 minutes before the end, to six goals. Poland seemed to lose their heads, but then rallied to produce a great catch-up phase, with Karolina Szwed scoring three times. At only one goal behind, Poland were back in the game, but player of the match, and also the top scorer for Montenegro with 8 goals, Ana Đokić, wrecked the dreams of the Polish fans. Although they made the job more difficult for themselves, Montenegro collected another two points, whilst Poland are still without points after two rounds. The top Polish goal-scorer was Iwona Niedzwiedz-Cecotka, who also had eight goals.

Great Britain vs. Russia 16:24 (10:14)

Despite the big gap between the handball cultures of Russia and Great Britain, the home side presented itself in top shape and showed great fighting spirit and big heart. The outsiders can be very proud of their quality performance against Russia who were playing at a low level tonight. It was still enough for a victory though, but their coach Evgeny Trefilov surely was not pleased with the performance of the Sbornaja. "We had a horrible performance today, my congratulations to our opponent for a good game. They are already qualified for the Olympic Games 2012, whilst we need to play much better if we want to be in London next year," analyzed the Russian coach after the game. 



Group 5



Czech Republic vs. Sweden 21:30 (12:16)


Favourite Sweden had a great performance against the Czech Republic and won the encounter of the two Round 1 winners in a clear and impressive manner. It was a great game by the "blue and yellow", and the Czechs could only maintain the high pace of the match for 12 minutes when the teams were still on eye level. Then, the quick Swedes upped their performance, and with top defensive play and quick counter attacks, pulled away. Cecilia Grubbström, once again, was superb in goal. With her 23 saves, among them two penalties, she played a great part in the Scandinavian success. Coach Per Johansson was very pleased after the 9-goal victory: "We had a solid performance and our top defence meant great fast-breaks. Today we had more sharpness about us throughout the whole match compared to Thursday´s game in Skövde."

Group 6



Slovakia vs. Croatia 23:34 (10:18)

A great crowd of 2000 spectators gave loud support for the Slovakians in Michalovce, but Vladimir Canjuga´s Croatian ladies justified their favourite role and pre-decided the match after a few minutes. Slovakian coach Peter Sabadka was hoping that the vocal support of the fans would act as the eight player, but the Croats quickly showed the home side who was the boss in today´s duel. Led by wing player Maja Zebić, the away side made a run of 8:1 at the beginning and from that moment on, until the dying minutes, the match-up between the two countries was a one-sided affair, where Canjuga´s side routinely kept the gained advantage. Croatia are now on maximum points, whilst Slovakia are without points in the tournament. Denmark can go level with the Croats tomorrow, if the Scandinavians defeat Italy.

Nine games will follow to complete Round 2. 



The match schedule for tomorrow´s games in the second round of qualification for the event in the Netherlands is as follow:

Round 2, Day 2: 23 October 2011



Group 1



Belarus vs. Hungary

Mogilev, 17:30 hrs (local time)



Azerbaijan vs. Germany

Baku, 17:00 hrs (local time)



Group 2



Portugal vs. Serbia

Moimenta da Beira, 15:00 hrs (local time)



Group 4



Turkey vs. FYR Macedonia

Antalya, 17:00 hrs (local time)



Lithuania vs. France

Alytus, 19:00 hrs (local time)



Group 5



Slovenia vs. Austria

Ljubljana, 17:00 hrs (local time)



Group 6



Italy vs. Denmark

Mestrino, 18:00 hrs (local time)



Group 7



Iceland vs. Ukraine

Reykjavik, 16:00 (local time)

Switzerland vs. Spain

Geneva, 17:00 hrs (local time)

See where you can watch the game on TV HERE.

Further Information

Find more information on the Women's EHF EURO 2012 Qualification HERE.

View more detailed information on the event on the Official EHF EURO 2012 Website.
www.ehf-euro.com/NED2012/

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