KINEXON data tells story of Women’s EHF EURO 2024

Following the examination of the KINEXON data after the preliminary round and looking ahead to the semi-finals, this is the final instalment examining the Women’s EHF EURO 2024.

Number of sprints emerge as informative statistic

Title winners Norway scored a round 300 goals on their path to the trophy, ahead of the runners-up Denmark with 266, Hungary with 259 and fourth-placed France with 255. It is not an absolute that the top four teams will finish in this perfect scoring order matching their ranking, but the other cumulative statistics per team still provide some much more interesting and informative data — particularly the sprints.

Sprints were a theme in the earlier analyses, and they remain one of the most notable variances between the top four teams. France and Denmark recorded far more than any other team, with a total of 3,581 and 3,553, respectively. Norway were third in this ranking, with 3,280 sprints, while Hungary were fourth with 3,089. France and Denmark also ran the furthest, at 282.97 km and 281.70 km, respectively. Again, Norway and Hungary were third and fourth, on 277.67 km and 273.48 km, respectively.

As the top four teams each played at least one more game than any other sides, it is natural that they would top these rankings — it is the variances between them that are most interesting. 

As noted before the final weekend, Hungary tended to score more from longer attacks that saw the ball worked around the court, as reflected in their ranking on top of the ball possession time and number of passes. The bronze medallists recorded a total of four hours and 13 minutes with the ball and made 7,121 passes. Denmark and Norway were second and third, respectively, in both of these rankings. Denmark had the ball for four hours and nine minutes and made 6,845 passes, while Norway held it for three hours and 57 minutes and passed 6,338 times.

Interestingly, France were fourth for ball possession but came in eighth on the ranking of passes (5,994), perhaps showing a tendency for each individual player to spend more time with the ball in their hands compared with the other semi-finalists, who may move the ball more quickly. However, France made clearly the most assists, at 171, ahead of Norway, at 158. Denmark were third with 138 and Hungary ranked fourth for assists, with 134.

The fact that France held the ball for longer yet made fewer passes while also recording the higher number of assists might reflect more movement without the ball and more consideration when choosing where to send it — overall, the data seems to show they made more valuable passes.

All-star Kristensen dominates in goal

Turning to the goalkeepers, it is no surprise that the finalists recorded the best team statistics between the posts. The Denmark trio of Anna Kristensen — who was named All-star Team goalkeeper, Althea Reinhardt and Sandra Toft combined for 132 saves at a rate of 37 per cent. No fewer than 100 of those saves were made by Kristensen alone. Norway’s Silje Solberg-Østhassel, Katrine Lunde and Eli Marie Raasok recorded a total of 122 saves at an average of 37.8 per cent.

France and Hungary were also strong between the posts, with France recording 117 saves at a rate of 36.3 per cent and Hungary 116 at 34.4 per cent. France topped the ranking for penalty saves, stopping 14, ahead of the Netherlands, Montenegro and Poland on 10. Nine of Denmark’s saves were against seven-metre shots.

Kristensen’s 100 saves placed her far above the other goalkeepers, with Sweden’s Johanna Bundsen coming in second for most stops, on 80. Hungary’s revelation of the EURO, Zsófi Szemerey, recorded the best save rate of all goalkeepers in the competition, with an average of 38.6 per cent for her 73 stops. Kristensen was only just behind on save rate, with 38 per cent.

Looking to another key defensive statistic, Germany’s Xenia Smits recorded the most blocks, with 11. Interestingly, Smits was followed by four players representing two teams — from Montenegro, left back Djurdjina Jaukovic and All-star Team line player Tatjana Brnovic each made nine, while the Netherlands’ Romee Maarschalkerweerd had seven and her teammate Judith van der Helm had six.

However, the defender position in the All-star Team went to France’s Pauletta Foppa, who tallied eight steals and three blocks.

A closer look at the All-star Team

Regarding other members of the All-star Team, left wing Emma Friis was key for Denmark, playing an average of over 45 minutes per game. She recorded 26 goals and missed only eight in the entire EURO. But right wing Gyori-Lukács was even more outstanding, topping the overall rankings for field goals and shooting accuracy with her 42 goals scored at a rate of 70 per cent. Gyori-Lukács had only a little less playing time on average than Friis, with just over 43 minutes per game.

Gyori-Lukács’ 548 sprints put her third in the competition overall on that ranking, which was topped by Switzerland wing Mia Emmenegger, who recorded 654. Emmenegger also recorded the most running distance at the EURO — a ranking where Gyori-Lukács finished third as well.

Gyori-Lukács’ teammate Klujber secured both the overall top scorer title and the All-star Team right back position, while best young player Petra Simon rounded out the Hungarian contingent among the individual accolades. Klujber netted 60 goals to clinch the individual scoring crown. 

The MVP of the last Women’s EHF EURO, Norway’s Henny Reistad, was named All-star Team centre back. With 50 goals, Reistad was the second top scorer of the tournament, and she made the highest number of assists, with 45.

Reistad and Klujber both passed the All-star Team left back, Slovenia’s Tjaša Stanko, on the top scorer ranking only on the final weekend. With her 48 goals, Stanko was the top scorer of the competition overall and from the field up to the end of the main round. In addition, Stanko had the most assists at that point, with 41. Even playing fewer games than the other players who finished in the top seven of the assists ranking, Stanko remained in second overall for this statistic at the conclusion of the EURO.

Stanko was one of two players named in the All-star Team who did not reach the final weekend, the other being Montenegro line player Brnovic. Brnovic netted 23 goals for her side, but the more telling fact is that she played an average of over 52 minutes per match, proving her enormous value for the side in both attack and as a core player in the defence.

Photos: EHF/kolektiff