Handball-EM: Dream start for Croatia, France with trembling victory

Host and tournament favourite Croatia has had a dream start at the European Handball Championship. The team around backroom star Domagoj Duvnjak from German record holder THW Kiel defeated arch-rivals Serbia 32:22 (14:9) in their first Group B match. World champion France struggled to a 32:31 (15:17) in their opening game in Season A against Norway.

15,000 mostly Croatian spectators turned the arena in Split into a witch’s cauldron. The fans of “Kauboji” whistle down the Serbs as soon as the national anthem is played, the German top referees Lars Geipel and Marcus Helbig had some work to do.

Duvnjak, who recovered only a few weeks ago from persistent patellar tendon problems, was twice successful. However, the 29-year-old was treated with thick ice bags in the final phase on his right calf, and a diagnosis was not yet made. The best goalscorers of the Croats were Luka Stepancic and Manuel Strelek with six goals each.

At the new edition of last year’s World Cup final, the Norwegians took their revenge against the French star ensemble led by Nikola Karabatic. The Scandinavians and their top scorer, Kent Robin Tönnesen (8), took the lead in the second half of the game until the final minutes. The Flensburg-based Kentin Mahe, who also scored eight goals, became the winner of the tricolore team.

In the second game of the Croatia group, record European champion Sweden was defeated by Iceland after an indisputable performance in the first half with 24:26 (8:15). On the Icelandic side, Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson of the German champion Rhein-Neckar Löwen was five times successful, so that the 38-year-old left-winger equalled Peter Kovac’s (1797) world record for international goals.

In Group B with Porec as the venue, Austria defeated Belarus 26-27 (12-14) to win the match.

Defending champions Germany will face Montenegro at their first appearance in Group C on Saturday in Zagreb (17.15 hrs in LIVETICKER).