SUMMARY: Norway pass tough Sweden test; Denmark end Croatian dreams
Action in the Women's EHF EURO 2022 main round has returned to Ljubljana on Saturday for the second round of matches in group I. Denmark clearly beat Croatia 26:17, which sends the 2020 bronze medallists out of of the semi-final race. In the late game, Norway are put to the test by Sweden but the defending champions pass it in the end: 27:25.
22:42
Confirmation of today's results in Ljubljana:
22:36
She has been a hot favourite for the MVP title of the Women's EHF EURO 2022. Still a looooong way to go for that, but Henny Reistad certainly is leaving her mark on this championship.
Here is a look at her stats from the Sweden game tonight:
22:28
These are proper celebrations by the defending champions! You feel like a lot of relief is involved as well. Sweden have given them a tough ride tonight, but Norway have played it clever in the second half. And they have had Katrine Lunde between the posts, of course.
22:13
Norway just keep winning. But while they eased through the preliminary round, they were forced to dig deep by Sweden tonight. Here is the match review written by EHF journalist Courtney Gahan:
We adapted well from the first half to the second half. At the end of the second half we stopped them completely. It is really important. This strengthens our self-confidence. We were waiting for this game, we knew this would be a serious test for us.
21:58 RESULT | NORWAY VS SWEDEN 27:25 (13:13)
Great game, in which we saw Norway being seriously put to the test for the first time this tournament. Sweden have done so well... but still came up short. They missed a fast break and a penalty in the closing minutes, so who know what could have been?!
21:49
What. A. Second. Half! Kristine Lunde nothing short of absolutely brilliant here. 12 saves and the rock-solid backbone of the Norwegian team once again.
21:45
Last 10 minutes, and Norway still ahead by two: 23:21. Can Sweden catch up again? Another great save by Katrine Lunde doesn't help them... What an exciting game this is!
21:36
Team timeout Sweden. They have just dropped behind 20:18, that is the first time in the entire match that Norway lead by more than one goal. Also thanks to a series of great saves by Katrine Lunde; she is already on 10 for the match!
21:31
10 minutes into the second half and we get more of the same great stuff from the first half. Sweden again briefly ahead with two goals, but they can't shake off Norway. 17:16 to Sweden at the moment.
21:18
Jenny Carlson truly on fire: she scored the first three goals for Sweden, and six of the first 10. Dream stats!
21:06 HALF-TIME | NORWAY VS SWEDEN 13:13
13:13 – and that is the right half-time score for this game. Sweden had a few two-goal leads but needed a last-second goal from Linn Blohm to get into the dressing rooms at least level with Norway. Otherwise, not much in there. We should be in a for a cracking second half.
Let's hear again from EHF journalist Courtney Gahan in Ljubljana for her half-time thoughts:
"What a derby we have on our hands! Denmark must be watching this with high hopes for their upcoming game against Norway on the last day of the main round, after they kept Sweden to only five goals in the first half of their mutual game in the preliminary round. Here, the Swedes have kept level with Norway and led the game for several minutes midway through the half.
It's a fast-paced, entertaining game with plenty of great goals. And wow Jenny Carlson! It’s a big outing for the Swedish centre back, who has top scored the first half with six goals.
If Sweden can take the win here, it will be a big moment for the team — the last EURO victory over Norway was more than 10 years ago, at the EHF EURO 2010."
21:01
12:12 with three minutes left to play. Jenny Carlson, who you could hear in a brilliant episode of the EHF EURO podcast just a couple of days ago, the outstanding scorer so far, with six goals, exactly half of Sweden's total production.
20:55
A two-goal lead for Sweden again. Norway get quickly back level again. 10:10 and nothing really separating the teams so far!
20:48
Team timeout Norway. Head coach Thorir Hergeirsson not satisfied yet, as Norway are behind 8:7. Match at a very high pace, let's see who can keep up with this tempo the longest.
20:39
Sweden off to a fearless start and taking a two-goal lead early on, but meanwhile all in the balance again: 5:5 after eight minutes.
20:24
If Norway win, they are guaranteed of playing at least the 5/6 placement game next week, and they would only need one more point from their next two matches to secure a semi-final spot.
Norway, who have won all their 15 EHF EURO matches since 7 December 2018, clearly lead the head-to-head comparison with their neighbours: Sweden haven beaten them three times in 17 matches, the last time at the 2017 IHF World Championship. However, their most recent encounter a year ago ended in a draw: 30:30.
20:20
Watch what this win means to Denmark!
Now we have seen one Scandinavian win tonight, and we are guaranteed to a second coming up: Norway take on Sweden in the late match, a duel between the two teams that topped the standings in preliminary groups A and B.
We struggled for 10 minutes (after the break), but the last 20 minutes we put ourselves back in the game plan again. It is all about concentration. I am really proud of how we kept it today.
19:31 RESULT | CROATIA VS DENMARK 17:26 (8:14)
Big win for Denmark. The missed a string of penalties and they didn't score for nine minutes in the first part of the second half, but they get rid of Croatia very convincingly.
This result puts both Croatia and Hungary out of contention in the race for the medal matches.
19:25
Double-digit lead for Denmark now: 25:15 with three minutes on the clock. They make it very clear what their ambitions are for the final week of the EHF EURO.
19:20
Croatia's hopes for a medal are likely going to be dashed tonight, being 22:15 down to Denmark with nine minutes left to play.
That is not the fault of their fabulous goalkeeper duo, though:
19:16
Jesper Jensen glad to see Denmark are back in control, and back to a six-goal lead: 20:14 with 12 minutes left. Remember, Croatia are out of contention when they lose tonight.
19:08
Katarina Pavlovic showing Denmark how to convert a penalty. She does so, and Croatia are back into this: only 15:13.
19:04
Well, it took Denmark more than nine minutes in the second half (and yet another missed penalty) to find the net again, via Sarah Iversen. Their lead is still healthy though, 15:11.
18:59
Croatia making an ambitious start into the second half. A 3:0 run and, five minutes played, they are back at 14:11!
18:39 HALF-TIME | CROATIA VS DENMARK 8:14
Denmark took advantage of a below-par start of Croatia, and then held on to their lead pretty comfortably. Six goals is a lot, and the chance for Croatia to play for at least another bronze medal could well be over in an hour from now.
Let's hear from EHF journalist Courtney Gahan in Ljubljana:
"It’s all about Denmark’s defence. For the first time at the EHF EURO 2022, Denmark started with Althea Reinhardt in goal instead of Sandra Toft. Reinhardt faced hardly any shots — 14 shots from Croatia, versus 23 for Denmark — because of the defence in front of her.
The duo of Rikke Iversen and Kathrine Heindahl as the core two in the middle continues to be superb, with Anne Mette Hansen, Kristine Jörgensen and Mette Tranborg also doing a great job in the number two positions. It is the second time we have seen Denmark limit their opponents to only one goal in the first 14 minutes, as they did the same against Sweden in the last preliminary round match in Celje.
Croatia did not allow Denmark to score too much while they struggled to add to the score board, thanks mainly to a very good game from Tea Pijevic (seven saves at 44 per cent at the 23-minute mark). Because of that, Croatia were able to reduce the deficit significantly once they started to score and now have a reasonable chanced for a comeback in the second half."
18:29
Team timeout Denmark. So far so good for head coach Jesper Jensen's team, which has been in control from the throw-off.
It is 9:4 with seven minutes to go until the break.
18:25
8:3 Denmark after 20 minutes, and Mie Højlund has contributed three so far:
18:19
We are just over 15 minutes into this match and Denmark have already left Croatia with a mountain to climb: 7:2. And Althea Reinhardt isn't helping Croatia's cause, either:
18:13
Croatia head coach Nenad Sostaric calling his first team timeout. We are just over 10 minutes into this game and Denmark are leading 5:1 (and, yes, they missed three penalties on top of that).
18:08
Six minutes of play and we have already seen four penalties missed – one for Croatia, three for Denmark. Oh, we had two goals as well, both for Denmark.
14:16
The guys from the official Women's EHF EURO 2022 podcast keep producing the goods. In the latest episode released today, there is of course a lookback to last night:
- Friday night’s antics throw group II wide open, which caught us all by surprise. Germany’s Alina Grijseels and Emily Bölk reflect on their huge win over Netherlands (5:30 mins);
- we speak about the first batch of teams with genuine hopes of semi-final spot and discuss what they need to do to reach the final weekend and maybe even claim gold;
- Grace Zaadi speaks about France's unusually perfect start to the championship, managing player time, the crucial showdown with Montenegro and what France need to improve on to go all the way (27:30 mins).
Listen below or download the latest episode in .mp3 here.
13:30
We all love handball stats and records. So, a good thing we have KINEXON on board again for this EHF EURO again. They just measure everything happening on the court during matches.
EHF journalist Adrian Costeiu dives into the latest stats and comes up with a lot of interesting rankings halfway through this championship (click on the image):
12:53
Our women in sport series, the cooperation between EHF and kolektiff, continues:
Alenka Cuderman, a woman with a rich resume in handball. An Olympic gold medallist, women's handball and Respect Your Talent coordinator in the #EHF, was a setup manager in Podgorica for the Women's EHF EURO 2022 ❤️. The passion for work and handball that Alenka has is very inspiring and she is one of the women to look up to!
12:01
Coming into the main round, everyone is trying to click into the next gear. The goalkeepers in our Top 5 Saves from days 7 and 8 certainly have:
11:42
Before we turn our attention to group I, here is the preview for the next matches in group II on Sunday, when preliminary group winners France and Montenegro are starting their main round campaigns:
10:46
It would not do Bianca Bazaliu justice to say that her stunning buzzer-beater last night was unique – because she has done it before.
A dive in the Home of Handball archives on YouTube learns that Bazaliu also saved Romania with a power shot in the last seconds of their EHF EURO Qualifier in Austria a year ago, when she netted for 33:33.
OK, this one might not have been quite as spectacular since she was a few metres closer to the goal then she was yesterday, but still: this is a reminder for Romania's upcoming opponents – Montenegro on Tuesday and Germany on Wednesday – as they now know who they must mark in the closing seconds of their matches...
10:34
We cannot start talking about today without looking back at what happened yesterday.
Germany have really kick-started their tournament and they look like a completely different team coming into the main round after only just squeezing through of the preliminary round. They outplayed Netherlands for a stunning 36:28 win.
The main talking point, however, is that Bianca Bazaliu's buzzer-beater (try to say that three times in quick succession) to give Romania a last-gasp 28:27 win over Spain – which had just managed their equaliser a few seconds before:
10:15
Good morning and welcome to day 9 of the Women's EHF EURO 2022.
It is the second playing day in main round group I and today's menu has an intense Scandinavian flavour, with Denmark, Norway and Sweden alongside Croatia taking the court in Ljubljana tonight:
