Russia come from behind to set up final date with France
Despite being 15:13 down at half-time, the strong Russians, led by Antonina Skorobogatchenko, rose up against Denmark to win 28:27 and set up a final against France, who ran out five goals clear of Hungary 31:26 in the earlier semi-final of the day in Celje, Slovenia. A variety of 5-16 placement matches also took place as Slovenia 2017 prepares for its final two matchdays.
The full playing schedule can be found HERE and all games are free and live on ehfTV.com.
SEMI-FINALS
Hungary vs France 26:31 (13:15)
The Dvorana Zlatorog was the venue for both semi-finals today and fans inside were treated to a French masterclass in the first one as nine goals from French threat Jannela Blonbou saw her side despatch the Hungarians, who were down by two at half-time. Even with the best efforts of Noemi Hafra (seven strikes), Dorina Roman and Katrin Klujber (both six) for Hungary, it was not enough as the young French side continue the dominance of the great handball nation.
“We knew that the Hungarian players had already won six matches and my players weren’t convinced they could beat them,” said Eric Baradat, France’s head coach. “I managed to encourage them by saying it would be tough but possible to win.
“Good tactics and the atmosphere within our team helped us to win this match.”
“France is an excellent team with strong players and good attacking play,” said Bela Bartalos, Hungary’s goalkeeping coach. “We had a lot of problems in defence but this championship is long and eventually you will play a bad match - unfortunately, this happened to us today.”
Best players of the match: Dorina Roman (Hungary) and Jannela Blonbou (France).
Here there are guys: @FRAHandball is going to the finals of #W19ehfeuro! pic.twitter.com/XQbZz0VDnI
Denmark vs Russia 27:28 (15:13)
Russia marched into the final, coming from behind against a Danish team who had won all their previous games at Slovenia 2017.
In the match, which was a replay of the same teams who appeared in the final in 2015, nine goals from Anne Sofie Moldrup Nielsen Filtenborg were just not enough to see the job out for the Danes who were three goals up in the second half at one point.
The Russians took a time out 26 seconds from the end of the final buzzer on their way to another final as a save in the dying moments sealed their victory.
The final, which will take place on Sunday (6 August) follows hot on the heels for the same group of players who won the 2016 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship in Slovakia last year.
“Defence is the most important part of our team, but we were forced to change and adapt it slightly after losing three of our best defensive players,” said Russian coach Viacheslav Kirilenko. “It is important that we played good defence because we faced the reigning European champions with this generation of girls in 2015.”
Heine Mongensen Eriksen was gracious in defeat. “We can only congratulate Russia on the win,” said Eriksen. “I believe that we would have won if the match had been two minutes longer or shorter because we were very close to a win but I can be proud of my team.”
Best players of the match: Amalie Milling (Denmark) and Anna Shaposhnikova (Russia).
CROSS MATCHES
Places 5-8
Germany beat Norway 31:28 (10:13) in extra time after trailing the Norwegians up until the 56th minute – the Norwegians even led by six (12:6) during the first half - but Julia Maidhof scored 12 goals to ensure a win for the Germans as Karoline Lund’s nine strikes could not help her Norwegian side see the game out. The game had finished 23:23 in normal time.
Best players of the match: Karoline Lund (Norway) and Julia Maidhof (Germany).
“Despite our lead, even with six goals, the German players did not give up,” said Kenneth Gabrielsen, Norway’s assistant coach. “This was the key to their win, but at the end of the match and in overtime we did not keep the level of our attacking play from the beginning.”
“We played excellent defence,” said Marielle Bohm, Germany’s head coach. “This secured our win and I am very proud of my team who played amazingly in the last 17 minutes of the match.”
The Germans will play Netherlands tomorrow for fifth place after the Oranje beat Montenegro 29:25 (14:11) with Dione Housheer adding nine goals to her championship tally. “My players really fought hard today,” said Robert Nijdam, Netherlands’ head coach. “The Montenegrin players are very strong if they find their way to the six-metre line because their pivot is playing well, so we tried to keep them away from the six-metre line and we won the match as a result of good defence.”
Places 9-12
The deadly Maria Sorina Tirca increased her total goals scored in Celje by eight (and 44 in total to lead the Slovenia 2017 scoring charts) as her Romanian side easily beat Slovenia 26:17, although it was a much tighter affair at half-time (13:12). Romania will play Sweden for 9/10 place after the Scandinavians beat Spain 27:21 (12:11), despite a best player performance and nine goals for her Spanish side from Lorena Zarco Ubeda.
Places 13-16
Seven goals from Korina Karlovcan helped her Croatia side beat Serbia 27:18 (13:8), who will face Portugal tomorrow for 13th place after they beat FYR Macedonia 35:22 (17:12) with best player of the match for the Portuguese, Mihaela Minciuna scoring 11 goals.
The full playing schedule can be found HERE and all games are free and live on ehfTV.com.
TEXT:
EHF/amc