Finland, Belgium and Estonia proceed to the next stage

The first leg matches on Wednesday and Thursday set the scene and now Finland, Belgium and Estonia have marched through the gate to the final stage of the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 qualification.

Starting in October, 32 teams will play for the 20 remaining spots at the final tournament in Hungary and Slovakia. From this relegation round two of the aggregate winners, Belgium and Estonia, won both encounters, while Finland took a clear win on home ground after a draw in Tbilisi.

Finland vs Georgia 37:21 (14:12)

A brilliant second half provided Finland with the ticket for the next qualification stage. The team of Swedish-born head coach and four-time EHF EURO winner Ola Lindgren easily sealed the deal after the break, despite Georgia pressing hard in the first 30 minutes.

After the 24:24 draw in the first leg, now Finland played much more dominant and allowed Georgia only nine goals in the second half.

Backed by the 21 goals from Nico Rönnberg (eight), Jan Robin Sjöman (seven) and Benjamin Helander (six), the hosts did not have any problems in taking a clear victory, and will now be part of the final EHF EURO qualification stage for the third time in a row.

Cyprus vs Belgium 16:31 (8:11)

During the EHF EURO 2020 qualifiers Belgium produced a sensational draw against Serbia, and showed they continue to improve by wrapping up a second win against Cyprus.

The “Red Wolves” had done their job already by winning the first leg on home ground 24:7. On Sunday, they added another 15-goal difference to finish ahead of Cyprus by 32 goals after two matches.

Even the red card against Nathan Bolaers did not have any impact on the visitors’ match plan. Cyprus played a strong first half, but then again lacked the power to stand against Belgium, as in the first leg.  David Denert (seven goals) and Simon Ooms (six) were the top scorers for the victors, while Loucas Paraskeva topped the overall scorer list with eight goals for Cyprus.

Estonia vs Luxembourg 31:20 (14:13)

A duo of current and former German Bundesliga players made the difference in a match which was quite level in the first half. But when Dener Jaanimaa (now playing for VELUX EHF Champions League participant Motor Zaporozhye, previously for Hamburg, Kiel and Melsungen) and Mait Patrail (Lemgo) started their engines, the bravely fighting Luxembourgish side were beaten for the second time after the 33:38 defeat on home ground.

Like Patrail and Jaanimaa, each Henri Siilaste and Jürgen Rooba scored five goals for the Baltic side. As for the EHF EURO events in 2012 and 2020, Estonia will be in the final qualification stage.

The best scorer for Luxembourg was – as in the first leg – Tommy Wirtz with six goals.