Dramatic quarter-finals confirm medal hopefuls at Beach Handball EURO 2019

The biggest Beach Handball EURO to date started with 40 national teams, but since Friday evening only eight are left with a shot at the European titles this weekend.

Both title-holders from 2017 - Spain’s men and Norway’s women - are not among them as the semi-final pairings are: Denmark vs Hungary and Russia vs Norway in the men’s event, and Croatia vs Denmark and Netherlands vs Hungary in the women’s competition.

All matches of the Beach Handball EURO 2019 are streamed live on ehfTV.com, and the semi-finals, third-place matches and finals will come with English commentary. The scores can also be followed on the dedicated beach handball liveticker.

Russia only former champions in semi-final

In the men’s event, Denmark downed France 2:0 to get to their first semi-final since 2013, when they won the bronze medal.

Hungary ended Germany’s hopes as they took the shoot-out after clearly winning the opening set (23:16) but losing the second just even clearer (23:11). Hungary have finished fourth at the last two EUROs and will be determined to get a step further this time.

Two-time champions Russia, who won silver two years ago, defied a rousing crowd on Court 1 to defeat hosts Poland 2:0, though they only won the second set on a golden goal.

Norway completed the semi-final line-up with arguably the biggest upset of the tournament so far, beating record four-time champions Croatia 2:0. While Norway enter their first-ever semi-final, Croatia will be missing from this stage for the first time since 2006.

Denmark return to semis after 2017

All four women’s quarter-finals were tight, with three matches going into a shoot-out. The only exception was Croatia, the 2011 EURO champions who had not reached the semis since. They edged Ukraine 2:0 in two close sets.

Denmark are the only team from the 2017 semi-finals returning to this stage of the competition. The 2011 and 2013 silver medallists downed title-holders Norway in a shoot-out.

Netherlands earned their first-ever semi-final berth by defeating world champions Greece. After two very contrasting sets, which ended in 25:12 for Netherlands and 24:18 for Greece, the Dutch team kept their nerve in the shoot-out.

Hungary also needed a shoot-out, against Spain, as they returned to the semis after winning the trophy in 2013 and ’15.

Defending champions Spain finish bottom of group

Earlier on Friday five teams booked their quarter-final tickets in the men’s event after Denmark, Croatia and Hungary had already done so.

In Group I, Russia turned their match against Germany around after losing the opening set and the 2:1 win secured them second place behind Denmark. The remaining four teams finished all level on four points, with Germany and Norway also advancing.

Spain did win their last game - 2:0 against Serbia - but still finished bottom of the group as the damage to their title-defending campaign had already been done earlier.

Untouchable Croatia also downed Hungary in their last match to top Group II. Hosts Poland locked up third place with a 2:1 victory over Switzerland, while France grabbed the last quarter-final berth with a 2:0 win against Ukraine.

Heartbreak for hosts Poland and Germany

On Friday morning the concluding round of main-round matches in the women’s event confirmed the last four quarter-finalists, after Netherlands, Croatia, Denmark and Spain had already secured their spots.

In Group I, Norway beat Hungary 2:0 as both followed the top-two teams into the knockout phase.

Hosts Poland lost 2:0 to Croatia and failed to make it into the quarter-finals - two years after they had won silver at the Beach Handball EURO in Zagreb. Portugal lost to Netherlands and also went out of the medal race.

There was also drama for Germany in Group II. They got the win they needed against Italy, 2:0, but still ended up in fifth place.

As Greece defeated Ukraine 2:0 in the simultaneous match, the three teams all finished level on four points, behind already-qualified leaders Spain and Denmark. The advantage was with Greece and Ukraine respectively, leaving Germany only the cross matches for ninth place.

Spain handed Denmark their first defeat to top the group.

Photos: Uros Hocevar / kolektiff / EHF