U15 European Championships: Germany reaches quarter-finals

June 27, 2023

The quarter-final draw for the U15 Women’s European Championships has been finalized, with seven out of eight teams from Groups A and B successfully advancing to the final eight of the competition.

The implementation of a new two-tier format in junior competitions aims to provide lower-ranked teams with enhanced opportunities to progress to the later stages of major tournaments. However, in Zagreb, only one team from the “lower tier,” namely Germany, has managed to break into the top eight.

With four goals apiece for Bianca Mitterbauer and Mara Dzaja, the Germans bettered Israel 15-9 in the last game of the day. However, they’ll not be too enthused by the prospect of facing the tournament’s best team, Hungary, in the first quarter-final tomorrow.

As mentioned – aside from Israel – there were easy victories for the three other teams from Groups A and B that played in the crossovers. Ten goals split evenly between Nika Ratkovic and Elena Cuk helped Serbia bypass Romania (15-6), while all but one of the Netherland’s outfield players registered netted in the Oranges’ 17-4 rout of Turkiye.

Croatia put in an exceptional attacking performance, overpowering Czechia with a remarkable 21-8 triumph. Lara Srhoj made a significant contribution, accounting for more than half of the host team’s goals, scoring a remarkable 12 times.

The quarter-finals will be played tomorrow evening. Before then, the first of the 13th-15th round-robin games between Ireland, Slovakia and Ukraine takes place.