World champion France is close to the semi-finals of the European Handball Championship. The tournament’s favourite defeated the Serbs, who were still without points in the second stage of the tournament, with 39:30 (19:12) and lead the main group 1 with 8:0 points. The team of the French coach Didier Dinart and Guillaume Gille are the only remaining loss-point free team at the European Championship.
Subsequently, record European champion Sweden also won with 29:20 (16:11) against Belarus. Sweden thus climbed to second place and still has a good chance of making it into the final round. If Sweden leaves Sweden (6:2 points) with Norway (4:4) the runners-up on Wednesday afternoon, France would qualify early for the medals.
If the Scandinavians win their last match, Superstar Nikola Karabatic’s team can even concede a seven-goal defeat against hosts Croatia on Wednesday (8.30 pm) to secure their place in the semi-finals.
The best French throwers were Luka Karabatic and Raphael Caucheteux with seven goals each. For Sweden, Hampus Wanne from SG Flensburg-Handewitt and Albin Lagergren scored four goals most frequently.