Greece and the Faroe Islands advance to Qualifiers Phase 2

Sunday was the final day of Qualifier Phase 1 of the 2022 EHF Women’s Euro. Portugal had clinched their ticket to the next round Saturday, and the two other teams were determined after the day’s matches.

The Greeks already had one foot in the door after the previous matches, and they made no doubts after a decisive 33:22 win over Italy. In Group C Israel still had a chance despite losing to Finland yesterday, but the hosts were too strong in the end and won 29:25.

The groups for Qualifiers Phase 2, which starts in October, have already been determined. Portugal join neighbor Spain, Hungary and Slovakia in Group 5. Greece are in Group 3 with the Netherlands, Germany and Belarus, while the Faroe Islands will play Denmark, Romania and Austria in Group 2. 

Group B
Greece vs Italy 33:22 (15:9)

• Greek player Agni Zygoura scored the game’s first goal, and her team scored eight of the game’s first ten goals. Italy then countered with a three-goal run to cut the lead in half to three by the 17th minute.
• However, that was the smallest deficit for the Italians as Greece gained momentum again, increasing the lead to seven on two occasions before settling for a six-goal lead at halftime.
• The second half saw little change from the first as the Italians were unable to make a run to make the game competitive, only trimming the lead to five at the 39th minute mark, and Greece obtained a double-digit lead near the end of the match.
• Vasiliki Gkatziou was the game’s top scorer with six goals, while Laura Rotondo led the Italians with five.

Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Latvia 31:19 (16:7)

• Lana Nikolajeva scored the first goal of the game for her side Latvia, but the Bosnians scored the next four goals before the Latvians answered with a four-goal run of their own. Jovana Ilic then equalised for Bosnia at 5:5.
• A Bosnia team timeout at the 16th minute mark gave them the spark they needed. Armina Isic’s goal a few seconds later started a six-goal run, and the Bosnians grew their advantage to nine by halftime.
• Latvia started the second half positively with veteran Nikolajeva adding two more goals at the start, cutting the deficit to six goals, but the match was never in doubt as their opponents took control once again and ended the game with a twelve-goal margin of victory.
• 23-year old Nikolina Cutura paced the winning team six goals from six attempts, while Latvian Madara Cibulska was the top scorer with seven tallies, although with a 50 per cent efficiency rate.

Group C
Faroe Islands vs Israel 29:25 (15:11)

• The Faroe Islands jumped to a 7:2 lead, in part thanks to Turid Arge Samuelsen who contributed three goals in the run. Israel cut the lead to two on multiple occasions, the latest at the 27th minute mark, before the Faroese scored two goals to take a four-goal lead into the locker room.
• It seemed the Faroese were about to cruise to an easy victory after leading 20:14 in the 37th minute, but Israel did not give up, going on a 7:2 run to close the gap to a single goal in the 46th minute. However, the Faroe Islands finished the game strong and closed with a four-goal victory.
• Shira Vakrat of Israel was the leading scorer with 11 goals; Turid Arge Samuelsen led the Faroe Islands with her five goals.