The list of the participating countries of the Men’s European U17 Championship, which will be held in Malta in September (12 – 19), has been completed.
Three qualification tournaments have been held in Korcula, Maribor, and Prague this weekend.
Croatia, Russia, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Romania, and Turkey qualified for the Championship and joined the teams that secured their berths earlier.
Eight teams qualified directly – Malta (host) and the best seven teams at the 2019 Championship held in Tbilisi: Italy (title-holder), Spain (silver), Hungary (bronze), Greece (4th place), Montenegro (5th place), Serbia (6th place), Germany (7th place). The competition of the qualification group B (Tbilisi) was held last week. Georgia and Belarus advanced to the ECH from this group.
Croatia, Russia, and the Netherlands dominated this weekend.
2021 Men’s European U17 Championship, Qualifications
Group A (Korcula, Croatia)
Croatia cruised to 1st place in Group A. The hosts opened the tournament knocking down Bulgaria (32:4). In the second round, Croatia beat France convincingly (17:4). Today, the Croats cemented 1st place with another big win, this time over Ukraine (15:4).
Ukraine secured 2nd place with narrow wins over France (9:8) and Bulgaria (13:12).
Round 1
Bulgaria – Croatia 4:32 (1:7, 1:10, 0:9, 2:6)
France – Ukraine 8:9 (2:1, 2:3, 3:4, 1:1)
Round 2
Croatia – France 17:4 (1:1, 6:0, 6:1, 4:2)
Ukraine – Bulgaria 13:12 (4:2, 3:3, 2:1, 4:6)
Round 3
France – Bulgaria 21:4 (3:2, 3:1, 9:1, 6:0)
Croatia – Ukraine 15:4 (2:2, 4:1, 5:0, 4:1)
1 Croatia 3 – 9
2 Ukraine 3 – 6
3 France 3 – 3
4 Bulgaria 3 – 0
Group B (Tbilisi, Georgia)
Played last week. Results – here
1 Georgia 4 – 12
2 Belarus 4 – 9
3 Slovakia 4 – 6
4 Lithuania 4 – 3
5 Moldova 4 – 0
Group C (Maribor, Slovenia)
Russia was too strong for all opponents in the group in Maribor. The Russians recorded four big wins – over Austria (25:1), Great Britain (31:3), Romania (14:3), and Slovenia (17:5).
Romania finished 2nd. There was no uncertainty in the battle for the 2nd place. Romania suffered an 11-goal loss to Russia, but it easily beat other teams, including Slovenia, which was the Romanians’ biggest rival for the 2nd place. Romania defeated the hosts with a 10-goal margin (18:8).
Round 1
Romania – Great Britain 18:6 (4:1, 5:1, 3:1, 6:3)
Slovenia – Austria 28:7 (8:0, 7:1, 11:3, 2:3)
Round 2
Great Britain – Austria 24:5 (3:0, 7:2, 7:2, 7:1)
Romania – Russia 3:14 (0:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:2)
Round 3
Russia – Great Britain 31:3 (9:1, 7:1, 6:1, 9:0)
Slovenia – Romania 8:18 (2:6, 2:2, 1:5, 3:5)
Round 4
Russia – Austria 25:1 (7:1, 6:0, 6:0, 6:0)
Slovenia – Great Britain 15:6 (3:2, 4:1, 2:1, 6:2)
Round 5
Romania – Austria 24:4 (8:2, 7:1,6:1,3:0)
Slovenia – Russia 5:17 (2:3, 2:3, 1:5, 0:6)
1 Russia 4 – 12
2 Romania 4 – 9
3 Slovenia 4 – 6
4 Great Britain 4 – 3
5 Austria 4 – 0
Group D (Prague, Czech Republic)
The Netherlands left no chance to its rivals. The Dutch beat Poland (24:4), Turkey (15:10), Switzerland (24:2), and The Czech Republic (16:6).
The most exciting match of the tournament was an encounter between Turkey and the Czech Republic, played in Round 4. This duel was decisive for the battle for 2nd place. In the middle of the fourth quarter, the score was 8:8. The Turks scored two unanswered goals in the last two minutes for a 10:8 victory and secured a ticket for Malta.
Round 1
Poland – Turkey 7:26 (2:7, 2:3, 3:7, 0:9)
Czech Republic – Switzerland 11:5 (4:0, 3:1, 3:1, 1:3)
Round 2
Turkey – Switzerland 13:5 (2:3, 3:0, 4:2, 4:0)
Poland – Netherlands 4:24 (0:5, 2:4, 1:9, 1:6)
Round 3
Turkey – Netherlands 10:15 (2:5, 2:3, 1:3, 5:4)
Czech Republic – Poland 17:7 (4:1, 6:2, 2:1, 5:3)
Round 4
Netherlands – Switzerland 24:2 (5:0, 9:1, 4:1, 6:0)
Czech Republic – Turkey 8:10 (3:3, 3:4, 1:0, 1:3)
Round 5
Czech Republic – Netherlands 6:16 (1:6, 0:4,1:3, 4:3)
Switzerland – Poland 11:7 (3:0, 3:3, 2:2, 3:2)
1 Netherlands 4 – 12
2 Turkey 4 – 9
3 Czech Republic 4 – 6
4 Switzerland 4 – 3
5 Poland 4 – 0
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