SUMMARY: Sweden keep semi-final hopes alive; Norway are through
Day 11 of the Women's EHF EURO 2022 has featured the last-but-one round in main round group I in Ljubljana. Norway have booked their place in the semi-finals after a close battle with Slovenia (26:23), while Sweden can still follow their Scandinavian neighbours following a 30:25 win against Hungary in the late match.
22:41
Just to confirm, here are the group standings before that bumper closing day of the main round on Wednesday, when it is Hungary vs Slovenia, Croatia vs Sweden, and Norway vs Denmark. Get your calculators ready:
22:27
Sweden only earn their first points during the main round but are still on track, Hungary put in another decent fight but somehow come up just short each match. Here is the match review from EHF journalist Courtney Gahan:
22:18
So, how do Sweden's chances stand to really join Norway into the semi-finals? Probably not too bad, because on the closing day of the main round:
- Slovenia must beat Hungary;
- Sweden themselves must beat Croatia; and
- Norway must beat Denmark
to make the Swedish dream come through. Does not sound like an unrealistic scenario. Far from, actually...
22:09
Nice save, nice smile from goalkeeper Johanna Bundsen! She has had 11 saves from 26 shots this match, making for a brilliant 42.31 save percentage.
22:04
It was not sparkling, but you don't get points for that. You get points for winning games, and that is just what Sweden have done. Let's hear from right wing Nathalie Hagman right after their win over Hungary:
As a team we are satisfied. We needed to win and that is what we did. We are still going for this semi-final, we really want to play this.
21:56 RESULT | HUNGARY VS SWEDEN 25:30 (15:18)
Sweden come out on top with a five-goal win, with Jasmina Roberts netting nine times. Their hopes still very much alive in this competition.
21:51
Sweden are going to win this. Leading by five with less than three minutes on the clock. They have done what they needed to do. Not more, not less. But the win has always been the only thing that counts for them tonight. Their road to the semi-final is still open.
21:39
The difference remains four, 24:20 to Sweden. The Hungarian fans doing their utmost to keep the spirits up, but so far Hungary have to show thumbs-up to their opponents. Just under 11 minutes to go.
21:29
Sweden not quite impressive yet tonight, but they look like closing in on the win they desperately need to keep any hopes alive of a semi-final appearance this weekend.
It is 22:18, with just over 20 minutes left on the clock.
21:12
Katrin Klujber testing the quality of the goal netting here..:
21:04 HALF-TIME | HUNGARY VS SWEDEN 15:18
A bit up-and-down stuff from Sweden so far, with an early three-goal lead that went astray quickly, but with another three-goal difference at the break. Let's hear what EHF journalist Courtney Gahan here in the Stožice Arena thinks of the first half:
"It’s interesting with a match like this, where Hungary cannot reach the semi-finals anymore and Sweden have the medal round on the line, that both sides manage to find equal motivation — at least initially. A completely level first 20 minutes before Hungary’s attacking errors started to show on the score board.
Something has not quite clicked into place for Hungary at the EHF EURO 2022, and while there have been moments of absolute brilliance in this first period, there have also been 10 turnovers to Sweden’s four. But their right back Katrin Klujber continues to impress, with four goals and four assists.
With a three-goal lead at the break and considering they surely have more drive to come out firing in the second half, Sweden look to be on track for an important two points regarding the semi-final race."
20:59
Melinda Szikora, a showreel with her best saves of the season for Hungary and Bietigheim would meanwhile make for an evening-long movie...
20:53
Sweden back at a three-goal lead (13:10) with just over nine minutes left in the first half. Linn Blohm, Jamina Roberts, and Emma Lindqvist all with three strikes so far.
20:46
Team timeout Sweden. Tomas Axnér not happy yet with what he sees on court. Hungary lead by one and Sweden seem to struggle a bit in attack.
20:41
One of those Swedish goal has come from Natalie Hagman, her 23rd of this EHF EURO. Hagman has now reached the 125-goal milestone in her EHF EURO career, which contains 40 matches.
20:39
Interesting start to this match: Sweden quickly went 4:1 up, but a 4:0 run for Hungary shows they are definitely not giving this match away.
20:32
Earlier today, we published a feature on Sweden on their chances in this competition, written by EHF journalist Courtney Gahan, who is also covering the match here tonight.
Worth a read!
20:25
We have seen one Scandinavian win tonight, will we see another?
Sweden must beat Hungary, who are out of the race for the semi-finals and still on zero points. Sweden have two and can only advance in the last round if they win tonight.
Over the last 12 years, Hungary have won three of five duels against Sweden, including the most recent match at the 2020 Olympics (26:23). Overall, Hungary have wo six of their 12 duels, Sweden four.
Hungary might be out, they are still in for some good fun:
20:11
A record: 5,648!
Slovenia's strong performance against defending champions Norway tonight has been watched by 5,648 fans in the stands of Stožice Arena in Ljubljana. That is an all-time record attendance figure for a match of the Slovenia women's national team.
Slovenia have been playing really great. In this atmosphere they even have more energy. But we love to play in a good atmosphere – even when this is not with us. Today we were not 100% in this, the passes to each other, technical mistakes... but this is like it is, this is handball.
18:49
More glorious moments for Ana Gros: I mentioned before the match she was already the all-time EHF EURO top scorer for Slovenia; she has now also become Slovenia's all-time top scorer overall! Congrats!
18:38 HALF-TIME | NORWAY VS SLOVENIA 16:15
What a great first half! Slovenia keeping up with Norway, even going three up at one time, in the end of the half trailing by just one. All to play for in the second half, and it looks like we are up for a similar scenario like in the Sweden game, when Norway were pushed to the limits.
Let's hear from EHF journalist Courtney Gahan in Ljubljana:
"10 minutes in and Norway coach Thorir Hergeirsson had to hit the timeout button, as his team trailed by three goals, 3:6. Norway were certainly feeling the pressure brought by the crowd in Ljubljana, while Slovenia capitalised on the ‘eighth player’ superbly.
Three of Slovenia’s opening goals came from the line players Valentina Klemencic and Natasa Ljepoja, showing that Norway’s defence have some holes to tighten up in the middle — very likely, they were more prepared to focus on the backs Ana Gros, Elizabeth Omoregie and Nina Zulic.
Slovenia goalkeeper Amra Pandžic also enjoyed a great opening, getting in Norway’s heads a little — and the Scandinavian side do not like to be behind in the position of underdogs. But Henny Reistad in particular handled the situation well and led the charge to close the gap, and now we have a thriller on our hands."
18:26
One of the best goals of the night so far, from Slovenia's Tamara Mavsar:
18:20
Norway quickly got back into it with a 3:0 run to get back level at six all. But Amra Pandžic stepping up to the occasion:
18:12
The opening 10 minutes belong to... Slovenia! The home crowd in Ljubljana goes wild as their heroes build a 6:3 lead. Norway coach Thorir Hergeirsson taking his first team timeout.
18:06
Nora Mørk levels for 2:2 in the fifth minute. That goal makes her tie the Norwegian record for most EHF EURO goals, set at 190 by Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth-Koren.
Not unlikely we will see Mørk become hetr country's outright all-time top scorer tonight!
17:46
Some say one should not read too much into stats. Others think they are very important. Whatever side you are on, the head-to-head stats between Norway and Slovenia are, to say the least, pretty one-sided: 10 games played, 10 won by Norway.
Their most recent encounters came in the EHF EURO Cup in October 2021, when Norway won 29:17 at home, and 26:21 in Slovenia – in Ljubljana, actually – three days later.
Will the streak go on or can Slovenia cause a surprise?
17:32
Slovenia practicing their celebration skills? A promising sign!
17:26
A special night for Ana Gros: the Slovenian star will join Sergeja Stefanišin as the player with the most EHF EURO appearances for Slovenia: 17.
I am sure Gros will celebrate the occasion with a few goals. Well, she is already the outright all-time top scorer for Slovenia at EHF EURO events, with 90 goals.
17:15
We are at a stage of the competition where every match is crucial – and our opener for this Monday night in Ljubljana is no exception: defending champions Norway against co-hosts Slovenia.
Norway can book their semi-final ticket if they get at least one point. In that case, they don't have to worry about their main round closer on Wednesday against Denmark, who might have to use that match to clinch their spot as well, or about any other match results in group I.
Slovenia are on four points and will rely on the home crowd support to keep their semi-final alive tonight.
14:16
New day, new episode of our women in sport series, the cooperation between EHF and kolektiff:
Bojana Popovic, an Olympic silver medallist and six times EHF Champions League winner, now head coach of the Montenegro team, is the only female head coach at the Women's EHF EURO 2022 ❤️. A true role model for other women out there who are thinking of taking the same professional step. Read more about her journey and get inspired: https://lnkd.in/du7bi-9q.
13:37
#PlayWithHeart
12:53
Two rounds played in both main round groups: here are the Top 5 Goals and Top 5 Saves from the past two days:
12:08
Don't miss out on the latest episode of the official EHF EURO podcast. The ninth episode, released today, welcomes Denmark right back Mie Højlund.
The Danish playmaker speaks about Denmark's evolution in recent years, how well-defined her and every squad member's job in the team is and Wednesday's decisive match against Norway.
Group II continues to throw up surprise twists and Katrine Lunde is handball's version of a cheat code.
Listen below or download the latest episode in .mp3 here.
11:44
Sweden hope to continue their run of impressive results from recent years. And while they face two already eliminated teams in their last two matches of the main round – Hungary tonight and Croatia on Wednesday – they still depend on other results going their was, as well.
For this feature, EHF journalist Courtney Gahan asked the Swedish team how they are fancying their chances:
10:28
You know you are truly reaching the business end of a tournament when teams can qualify for the semi-finals – and that is the case today. Norway have been unstoppable so far this tournament – well, they actually have been since the latter stage of the 2018 (!) edition – although they were made to work hard against Sweden last Saturday.
The several key players missing have not harmed the team from head coach Thorir Hergeirsson too much – if at all. Even two days before their last group match, Norway can book their place in the semi-finals...
... or can hosts Slovenia delay the Norwegian party tonight?
10:15
Good morning, welcome to the live blog for Monday 14 November – the start of the last week of the Women's EHF EURO 2022.
The Stožice Arena in Ljubljana is our meeting point today as the main round progresses with the penultimate playing day in round I. Those two matches await us:
