2024-04-18 18:51:01
The Austrian handball players have been drawn against tough opponents for the home European Championships (November 28th to December 15th) in Group E with defending champions Norway, Slovenia and Slovakia. Team boss Monique Tijsterman’s red-white-red selection will play their group games in the Innsbruck Olympic Hall. The eventual main round would take place in the Wiener Stadthalle.
“It will be difficult, but I think all groups are strong. I was hoping that Norway wouldn’t be in pot 1, because I would have had a favorite in the Netherlands. I see us on equal terms with Slovakia and Slovenia,” said Tijsterman and set reaching the main round as the goal.
However, the first four games under Herbert Müller’s successor were lost against current group opponents Norway (twice), Hungary and Switzerland. The Slovenians were last defeated 27:32 at the 2023 World Cup. This is the ninth European Championship participation for the ÖHB team, the first since 2008. Katarina Pandza and Co. have their sights set on improving at the home tournament.
ÖHB sports director Patrick Fölser believes the hoped-for participation in the main round is feasible. “Norway is a long way from us, you have to say that quite honestly. With Slovenia we have a tough but not impossible task. We haven’t played against Slovakia for a long time. They are a team we can beat. That has to be ours claim,” explained Fölser and added. “You saw with the men that with a huge amount of euphoria, anything is possible.”
The opening opponent will be Slovakia on November 28th, Norway on November 30th and Slovenia on December 2nd. In preparation there will be two tests against North Macedonia in September, and a three-nation tournament in Vienna is planned for October. Before the European Championship tournament, according to Fölser, they are planning a friendly test game against a team from German-speaking countries.
The 24 European Championship teams were drawn into six groups of four, two each will be played in Innsbruck, Debrecen and Basel. The second Innsbruck group was made up of the Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine and Iceland. The best two nations from preliminary round groups A, B and C will play their main round matches in Debrecen, those from groups D, E and F in Vienna, where the final weekend also takes place.
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