Long waits for semi-finals end on thrilling day in Podgorica

The semi-finals will take place on Friday, with Austria meeting Spain and Germany playing Denmark.

• France and Austria met for a rematch of their last game in the main round, when France won 31:24 — but the quarter-final clash was completely different, with Austria pulling away to victory in the last 15 minutes
• Austria were led in attack by six goals apiece from Lorena Baljak, Andrea Barnjak and Marie Scheiderbauer, but it was mainly their defence, supported by 11 saves from Nina Plavotic, that won the game; in a close clash, France’s last lead was at 20:19 in the 44^th minute, and the score at half-time was 13:12 for France
• a tight match between Germany and Montenegro saw Germany take the lead early, Montenegro come back to hold a 19:17 advantage at half-time, and Germany score three unanswered goals to open the second period and pull ahead as clear as three goals several times, latest at 27:24 in the 45^th minute
• propelled by a vocal home crowd and led by nine penalty goals from Bojana Pelicic, scored at 100 per cent, Montenegro fought back to level at 28:28 with 11 minutes to go, but Germany’s defence and some crucial saves from keeper Merle-Sophie Muth opened the door for them to claim the upper hand in the final minutes

• after Croatia scored their second goal for 2:3 in the fifth minute, Spain kept their opponents out of the goal for 18 minutes, during which the score line grew to a decisive 12:3 — and the outcome was decided as Croatia could never come back from the deficit
• a change in goal for Croatia, with Nika Kraljevic coming in and saving at 50 per cent in the late stages of the first half, galvanised the side to start scoring again and led them to a much stronger second period — but Spain, powered by their own superb keeper in Goundo Gassama (nine saves at 45 per cent), were already clearly on the path to victory when they took a 13:4 lead into the break
• like France and Austria, Denmark and Hungary had met in the last main round match on Tuesday, with Denmark taking a two-goal win; unlike France and Austria, a similar match unfolded in the quarter-final
• Hungary had the lead over Denmark throughout the first half and at the break, 12:10, but four straight goals for the Scandinavian side and none from Hungary in the opening 10 minutes of the second period turned the match on its head; in the closing stages, a superb showing from Hungary goalkeeper Boglárka Lukács (nine saves at 56.25 per cent) pushed Denmark to the limit, before they secured the narrowest of wins
• the first round of cross matches to decide ninth place to 24^th saw wins for Serbia, Romania, Czechia and Poland in the 9–16 bracket, and the Netherlands, Faroe Islands, Switzerland and Slovenia in the 17–24 group

Long waits for W19 EHF EURO semi-finals come to an end

For Spain, Austria and Germany, the semi-final qualification marked a return to the top four after lengthy periods. Austria last contested this phase at the W19 EHF EURO in 2011, Germany’s most recent appearance was in 2009 and Spain last played the semis in 2007.

Spain have taken two medals in the competition — silver in 2007, when they lost the final to Denmark, and bronze in 2002, beating the Netherlands. Austria have celebrated silverware at the W19 EHF EURO once before, taking the bronze on their one participation in the medal round 14 years ago. Germany ranked fourth when they played the semi-finals in 2009.

Denmark played the semi-finals and reached the trophy match at the last edition, losing to none other than Hungary. The Scandinavian team are also the record title holders at the W19 EHF EURO, with four trophies, the last of which came in 2015.

Concerning this generation, Denmark secured the silver medal at the W17 EHF EURO 2023, where Germany placed third. At the 2024 Youth World Championship, Spain took the title, Denmark were once again the runners-up, Germany placed fifth and Austria ranked 20^th, marking a huge leap into the top four for Austria at this EURO. Also demonstrating the significant result for Austria in reaching the semi-finals is the fact that two years ago they were part of the lower-tier W17 EHF Championships, where they won their edition.

Photos: Rukometni savez Crne Gore