Handball: European Championship: France marches through preliminary round, Serbia has to wait

World champion France finished the first group stage of the European Handball Championship with the third victory in the third game. The French star ensemble won against the underdog Belarus with 32:25 (14:11) on Tuesday. On Sunday, the French had already entered the intermediate round early with a win in the new edition of last year’s World Cup final against Norway (32:31).

In the third group game, French coach Didier Dinart and Guillaume Gille relied on former Kiel coach Nikola Karabatic, who had been spared against Norway. The former world handball player scored six goals, with France’s Dika Mem scoring nine goals.

Serbia beat Iceland in Group A 29-26 (12-12,12-12) and must hope that hosts Croatia will not beat Sweden in the evening (20:30). At the same time Norway will play against Austria in Group B.