Following a quiet year due to the pandemic, 2021 has once again seen a traditional summer full of Younger Age Category events.
No less than 10 (indoor) championships for women’s 17, women’s 19 and men’s 19 national teams have been played across Europe in July and August.
The YAC summer started in July with the W19 EHF EURO 2021 in Slovenia and the accompanying EHF Championships in North Macedonia and Italy. Next up in August was the W17 EHF EURO 2021 in Montenegro, with EHF Championships in Georgia and Lithuania. Finally, the men took the courts at the M19 EHF EURO 2021 in Croatia, with EHF Championships in North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Latvia.
eurohandball.com compiles YAC national team ranking
Just like two years ago, eurohandball.com has compiled a national team ranking summarising all YAC events this summer. The ranking system is based on the performance of each national team at the respective event, following the same pattern applied for the official senior national team rankings.
For instance, there are 80 points for winning an EHF EURO event, 76 for becoming runners-up, 72 for finishing third; and 34 points for winning an EHF Championship.
In 2019, Hungary came out on top. This summer, Hungary are up there again, mainly thanks to a repeat of their 2019 triumphs at both the W17 and W19 EHF EURO – but they are sharing the top position for 2021 with Germany, who lost the final of the W17 EHF EURO to Hungary, and won the M19 EHF EURO last week. Third on the ranking are Croatia, just ahead of Denmark.
The only other nation besides Hungary to have won more than one YAC event this summer are Netherlands, who triumphed in an EHF Championship both on W17 and W19 level.
Overall YAC summer ranking 2021:
1. Hungary – 208 points
Germany – 208
3. Croatia – 196
4. Denmark – 192
5. Russia – 178
6. Sweden – 160
7. France – 156
8. Romania – 150
9. Norway – 148
10. Spain – 130
