DAYS 1-3 REVIEW: The opening three days of the Women’s 19 EHF Championship in Bulgaria has seen four teams emerge as real contenders
Hosts Bulgaria lead at halfway mark
Home nation Bulgaria have enjoyed a bright start to the Women’s 19 EHF Championship in Varna.
Since the second tier competition began on Saturday, the hosts are one of four teams with a perfect winning record, alongside Serbia, Poland and Ukraine.
Group and match details can be found HERE. All matches will be streamed on ehfTV.com.
Group A
Bulgaria had to wait a day to get involved as Serbia (35:13 vs Great Britain) and Iceland (22:14 vs Greece) were the first to get points on the board.
After beating Great Britain in their opening clash, Bulgaria proved their semi-final credentials with a 24:16 win over Iceland on Monday. The victory was all but sealed with a 15:8 half-time lead, thanks largely to a player of the match goalkeeping display from Ivon Dyulgerova.
Tuesday’s highlight is a derby between neighbours Greece and Bulgaria, before a potential group final between the hosts and Serbia.
Group B
There was drama right from the beginning as Poland were made to mount a remarkable comeback to beat Israel on the opening day. Having trailed by five at the break, eight goals from Julia Pietras helped Poland turn things around and claim a 33:29 victory.
A low-scoring battle between Ukraine and Finland was the other highlight of the opening three days. Ukraine produced a formidable defensive display to restrict their opponents to just seven second-half goals, earning them a 24:17 win, which sets up a top of the table clash between them and Poland on Wednesday.
Follow the Women’s 19 EHF Championship in Bulgaria
All games of the Women’s 19 EHF EURO will be live on ehfTV.com.
For all the match throw-off times click HERE.
For the official competition website click HERE.
TEXT:
Chris O'Reilly