Austria keep hopes alive with victory over Estonia
After beating Bosnia & Herzegovina in March, Estonia had their fate in their hands on home ground against Austria - but the Baltic side lost the crucial duel on Thursday 27:31 and remain on two points.
Austria, now with four points, made sure they are still in the running for a EHF EURO ticket. One key to the away success was Lukas Hutecek's comeback after injury.
GROUP 2
Estonia vs Austria 27:31 (13:18)
- after winning the first leg 31:28, Austria shocked the Estonians on their home ground with a 6:1 start – and did not let the lead slip from their hands
- the hosts closed up to only one goal in the middle of the second half
- Austria decided the match with a 5:2 run from 20:19 to 25:22; the biggest gap was a 30:24 lead
- Estonian Marius Aleksejev clearly won the goalkeeper duel with 12 saves (40.5 per cent) compared to 11 from both Austrian goalkeepers
- Estonia’s Karl Toom was top scorer with nine goals, while Robert Weber netted seven times for the Austrians. Like Janko Bozovic, Lukas Hutecek scored six times for the visitors, only five weeks after he broke his finger
Austria have it all in their hands now
In 2010 and 2020, Austria qualified for the EHF EURO final tournaments as hosts; for the events in 2014 and 2018 they booked their ticket in the qualifiers.
A third victory on Sunday on home ground against Bosnia & Herzegovina, who also have four points at the moment, would grant them their fifth ticket for an EHF EURO. A draw is not enough, as they lost the first leg in Bosnia 21:27.
