Montenegro edge Netherlands again for title in Riga

Montenegro had another close win over Netherlands Sunday to win the Men’s 19 EHF Championship in Riga.

Montenegro came out on top by 30:28 in the final, six days after they had also beaten the Dutch team in the group phase: 31:30.

Hosts Latvia missed out on the bronze medal, going down 38:35 in the third-place match against Romania.

FINAL

Montenegro vs Netherlands 30:28 (13:14)

• Netherlands were leading for most of the first half, with Niko Blaauw scoring four times in the first 20 minutes
• Montenegro had their first lead of more than one goal only in the 57th minute, when Arsenije Dragasevic netted for 29:27
• Luka Vukicevic was Montenegro’s best scorer with eight goals; Blaauw finished on 10 goals to finish second on the tournament’s top scorers list

Montenegro keep Dutch in check for gold

Beating the team that scored the most goals in the tournament, Montenegro have rewarded themselves with the gold medal.

Montenegro did well to keep the Dutch attack in check. Led by Niko Blaauw, who had already scored eight times in the semi-final against Romania (28:25), Netherlands built an early lead but Montegro refused to let them run away with it.

Thanks to their strong second half, Montenegro came out on top, with Luki Vukicevic (eight) and Arsenije Dragasevic (seven) their most productive players.

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH

Latvia vs Romania 35:38 (16:18)

• Latvia were two goals up early in the match, but Romania took control with a 5:1 run to go 8:6 in front in the 10th minute
• Romania went three up several times, but the hosts never gave in and even went back to level terms (21:21) after 36 minutes
• Another 5:1 run gave Romania the edge, as they held on to their lead throughout the rest of the match, despite Endijs Kusners scoring 14 for Latvia

Romania down bravely battling Latvia

Having beating Latvia 40:29 in the group phase, Romania were clear favourites coming into the bronze medal match. However, it turned out no walk in the park this time.

Led by a stunning 14-goal outing from Endijs Kusners, Latvia kept up with their opponents for the first three quarters – only for Romania to make the difference in the closing 15 minutes.

Daniel Stanciuc was the best scorer for the bronze medallists, with eight goals.

Other results

Placement match 5/6
Turkey vs Luxembourg 30:28 (14:16)

Final rankings

1st Montenegro
2nd Netherlands
3rd Romania
4th Latvia 
5th Turkey
6th Luxembourg
7th Kosovo

All-star Team

Goalkeeper: Aleksandru Mihai Paska (Romania)
Left wing: Denis Veres (Romania)
Left back: Arsenije Dragasevic (Montenegro)
Centre back: Radojica Cepic (Montenegro)
Line player: Jevgenijs Rogonovs (Latvia)
Right back: Ids Eussen (Netherlands)
Right wing: Vojislav Vukic (Montenegro)
Best defender: Jelta Hiemstra (Netherlands)
MVP: Radojica Cepic (Montenegro)

Top scorers

46 – Endijs Kusners (Latvia)
37 – Niko Blaauw (Netherlands)
35 – Gökay Bilim (Turkey)
34 – Radojica Cepic (Montenegro)
28 – Daniel Stanciuc (Romania)