Germany take spots in Men's and Women's 18 Beach EURO semi-finals

Germany will feature in the semi-finals of both the men’s and women’s U18 Beach EURO tomorrow after the women’s team produced a decisive quarter-final win over Spain, and the men prevailed in a shootout against Russia.

Spain are the only men’s semi-finalists to have topped their group, with Saturday’s action in Ulcinj proving tough for the other group winners.

Italy secured their place in the quarter-finals after winning all their group matches, but an on-fire Croatia – who finished second to Russia in Group D – dominated in a high-scoring quarter-final. The Croatians took the first set 28:26 and won the second 29:22.

After not dropping a single set during the group matches, Hungary went out to Poland in the quarter-finals in a tight game. Hungary took the first set 15:12, but Poland edged the second 16:14 and won the shootout by a single goal.

Poland will play Croatia on Sunday morning for a place in the final.

The other two quarter-finals also went to shootouts. Spain looked to have stamped their mark on their match against Iberian rivals Portugal by winning the first set 26:7, but Portugal were undaunted, taking the second set 18:16.

In the shootout it was Spain who triumphed, scoring seven times to Portugal’s four and securing their semi-final spot.

Germany’s only group phase loss was against Italy, while quarter-final opponents Russia had won all four of their matches. The first set went to Russia, but Germany won the second and then took the shootout 7:5 to secure a semi-final place against Spain.

The men’s semi-finals are played at 12 noon local time on Sunday, with the final at 18:00.

Schedule and results of the men's competition

In the women’s competition, Germany and Russia had already booked their quarter-final places yesterday. They were joined after Saturday morning’s action by the Netherlands, Croatia, Portugal, Ukraine, Hungary and Spain.

All four quarter-finals were won in straight sets. The Netherlands had one of the closest matches, but prevailed over Croatia (18:14, 19:16). There was more distance between Portugal and Ukraine, with Portugal winning the second set 19:14 after securing a seven-goal win in the first.

Despite knowing yesterday they had made it to this stage, Russia were unable to progress further and they lost to Hungary. In the final quarter-final there was better news for Germany, who beat Spain in straight sets.

Sunday’s semi-finals pit the Netherlands against Germany, and Portugal against Hungary. The ties mean a repeat of last year’s Women’s 17 Beach EURO 2017 final, in which the Netherlands beat Portugal, is still a possibility.

The women’s semi-finals will be played at 11:00 local time on Sunday, with the final at 17:00.

Schedule and results of the women's competition

All matches are streamed live on ehfTV

Follow the results with the EHF's beach live ticker

Photos: Marcio Menino