Serbia and Switzerland undefeated ahead of W17 EHF Championship semi-finals

Serbia and Switzerland go into the semi-finals of the Women’s 17 EHF Championship in Georgia with a perfect record of four wins after the preliminary round of the competition.

Serbia ended the round with wins against Ukraine and Bulgaria on Tuesday and Wednesday, while Switzerland beat both Lithuania and Georgia.

In the semi-finals, Serbia will face Lithuania while Switzerland play Ukraine.

GROUP A

After the first three days of competition the Faroe Islands were still in with a mathematical chance of making the semi-finals, but needed to beat Ukraine in order to progress. The clash between the two was close all the way, although Ukraine went into the dressing room with a two-goal lead.

The Faroe Islands fought back in the second half and kept their composure even when Ukraine went five goals up. With less than four minutes to play centre back Maria Nolsoy scored two goals in quick succession to take the Faroe Islands ahead, 26:25 – but a shot from Ukraine left wing Kateryna Kozak levelled the match and gave Ukraine the semi-final spot.

The other matches concluding the preliminary round for Group A were more straightforward affairs.

Serbia beat Ukraine 33:20 and concluded the round with a 44:16 win against Bulgaria. Greece also beat Bulgaria, 39:30.

Bulgarian right wing Mari Tomova was the preliminary round’s top scorer, netting 41 times over the four matches.

GROUP B

Switzerland made sure of their top spot after two comfortable wins, beating Lithuania 31:19 and Georgia 31:18.

Finland avoided finishing at the bottom of the group rankings after holding on against Latvia for a 29:27 win. The Finns were leading 20:12 at half-time but a strong team effort from Latvia brought them within touching distance of the win.

Lithuania and Georgia were level with four points before the final match between Lithuania and Finland. Lithuania’s 28:19 victory over Georgia in the first match meant that they already held second place in the group, but they confirmed the position by beating Finland 34:23.

The competition resumes on Saturday with placement matches followed by the semi-finals in the evening. All the action can be watched live on ehfTV.com and followed on the official website, where the playing schedules can also be found.