Nieke Kuhne's 13 goals fires Germany into main round

The preliminary round of the W17 EHF EURO 2021 in Montenegro has come to an end. Eight teams now move on to the main round while the remaining teams will continue their journey in the intermediate round, both of which are played on 10 and 11 August.

The entire event is streamed live on EHFTV. Also, the Home of Handball social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well as the reports on eurohandball.com will keep fans up to date throughout all the events.

GROUP A

Montenegro vs Switzerland 26:27 (12:15)

• victory for Switzerland was not enough to see them reach the main round as they finished third in the three-way tie at the top of the group
• inspired by Mia Emenegger, the Swiss raced into an early lead and looked comfortable at the break
• five goals in the second half by Jelena Vukcevic brought Montenegro back into contention but their comeback fell just short

Denmark vs Austria 29:15 (16:8)

• a 6:1 run in the opening 10 minutes set the tone for Denmark as they never looked in danger
• technical errors proved to be Austria’s downfall, with 19 in total, as Denmark took full advantage with 11 players getting on the scoreboard
• the Danes progress to the main round, bouncing back well from their opening day defeat to Montenegro

GROUP B

Sweden vs Russia 28:34 (11:16)

• needing a victory to stay in contention for the main round, Sweden stayed in touch with Russia for much of the first half
• but Russia found another gear when needed with Alina Reshetnikova and Daria Lavrenteva scoring 17 goals between them
• the Russians win the group after their toughest test to date, making them one of three teams with a perfect preliminary round record

Slovenia vs Croatia 25:32 (11:18)

• Croatia were a team on a mission in their derby against Slovenia, taking no chances with a place in the main round on the line
• Katja Vukovic scored six of Croatia’s first seven goals in eight minutes, setting the tone for her side’s dominance
• Azra Zulic inspire a late flourish for Slovenia as she ended with nine goals but it was not enough to prevent her team from falling to a third loss

GROUP C

Hungary vs Norway 27:15 (15:8)

• with both sides already guaranteed a spot in the main round, this was a battle for points in the next phase and the result never looked in doubt
• Hungary were dominant from start to finish, stretching into a 10:4 lead after 18 minutes
• Norway created more opportunities than their opponents but were very wasteful, missing 35 attempts and Mathea Enger the only player to score more than two goals

Slovakia vs Portugal 23:23 (11:13)

• a topsy-turvy clash which saw both teams go on goalscoring streaks
• neither side held a significant lead for long until a 5:0 run midway through the second half gave Portugal a 21:17 lead with 10 minutes left to play
• Slovakia had one last push left in them, however, and top scorer Dorota Bacenkova equalised with a penalty with just over a minute left to play

GROUP D

France vs Germany 26:33 (9:15)

• this was a straight shootout for second place in the group and a spot in the main round
• it was the Kuhne and Leuchter show with Nieke Kuhne top-scoring with 13 goals and ably supported with eight from Viola Leuchter
• France came back within four goals with four minutes left to play but Germany had another gear when needed to secure the victory

Romania vs Czech Republic 36:27 (24:12)

• following two narrow wins over France and Germany, this was Romania’s most convincing victory of the round
• a 7:1 run in the opening eight minutes left Czech Republic facing a daunting uphill task
• the competition’s second-highest scorer, Alisia Boiciuc scored a perfect six goals from six shots as Romania extended their lead to 15 goals before easing off in the final quarter