Austria’s handball men have started the last preparatory phase of the preparation for the European Championship in Croatia (12th – 28th place). January) will not be able to record a sense of achievement. On Friday, the troop of Patrekur Johannesson had to admit defeat to the Czechs in Südstadt, who were also represented at the European Championships, with 23:26 (10:10).
Already on Sunday (15.00 o’ clock) the revenge in Brno starts before leaving for Porec on Wednesday. The European Championship kick-off against Belarus will take place on Friday. The game against supposedly lightest opponents after world champion France and vice world champion Norway will probably decide on the ascent.
In the sold-out BSFZ hall, both teams offered a controlled pace for the time being in front of 1,100 spectators: Austria started 1-0 with Wilhelm Jelinek running in circles, but then found it relatively difficult to take the offensive. There was little success in the back room, but Robert Weber and Sebastian Frimmel gave Frimmel several times on the grand piano. Nikola Bilyk, ÖHB star in the service of THW Kiel, however, received little time before the break.
Defensive, on the other hand, they were able to convince and kept the Czechs around Pavel Horak in good control. Thomas Bauer, the goalkeeper’s routine, also played a major role with nine parades and Austria was able to equalise at halftime (10:10). From 14. The guests had always led with one or two goals.
After the restart, the Czechs again scored up to two goals, but Austria returned to 16:16 at the beginning of the final quarter-hour. But the opponent, who changed his personnel like Red-White-Red, dropped slightly.
In the 24. In the second minute, however, the time had come: For the first time since the start phase (10th/3:2) the ÖHB selection was again in the lead with 21:20. The goalscorer was Bilyk, who played much more after the change of sides and scored five goals. But also in the finish they lost the fruits of this work. The Czech Republic was close to the end at 26:22 and could not be caught up.