Mie Enggrob Højlund (Denmark) tries to overcome the Norwegian defense
Tenth gold at the 16th edition of the European Women’s Handball Championships: Norway beat overwhelmed Danes 31:23 (13:12) on Sunday evening and won the title for the third time in a row. Denmark is also showing consistency: the 1997 world champion and three-time European champion won silver by participating in the final, as they did in 2022.
Jesper Jensen’s team had raised hopes at the beginning of the game: after a good four minutes without goals on either side, the Danes took the lead and were able to maintain their narrow lead again and again after Norway equalized. However, towards the end of the first half the offense faltered and Norway went into the dressing room with a lead.
The Norwegians dominated the second half in the Vienna Stadthalle: They started with a 3-0 run. While Anna Kristensen (Team Esbjerg) saved a few shots in the first round – and was also named the best player of the tournament – she was not a factor in the second 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the Norwegian defense had Denmark’s 7:6 offense completely under control, in which the goalkeeper was swapped for another field player during possession. Mistakes in the Norwegian offensive were also not taken advantage of: in the 40th minute, the Danes had the chance to get within three goals again, but gave up the ball in the second wave and had to accept a counterattack. The 19:14 score broke morale prematurely.
The Danes also got stuck with complex offensive actions such as spin moves. The Norwegian inner block prevented collective hits in the circle through defensive series clearance. Denmark almost only scored through throws from the backcourt. The revenge from the lost final in Ljubljana two years ago (25:27; 15:12) was missing, as was the compensation after the defeat at the start of the main round on December 5th (24:27; 12:13).
The Norwegian runners-up from last year once again bid Þórir Hergeirsson a golden farewell: The Icelandic coach – five-time IHF World Coach of the Year and last year Norway’s “Coach of the Year” – is ending his career after 15 years on the sidelines. Under his aegis, Norway won five European Championships, three World Cup titles and two Olympic gold medals.
There was a little surprise on the afternoon before the final: Hungary beat world champion France 25:24 (13:12) in a close game. The Hungarians’ strong tournament appearance is also reflected in the fact that not only the Hungarian right back player Katrin Klujber (Ferencváros Budapest) took the top scorer’s crown with 60 goals; The ten-member all-star team also includes three Danes and three Hungarians.
In the placement game for fifth place, Sweden defeated the Netherlands on Friday (33:32; 15:15). The DHB selection failed in the main round and came seventh in the tournament thanks to a better goal difference compared to Montenegro. Before the European Championships is always before the World Cup: next year the competition will be held in Germany and the Netherlands.
Turn to the guys: There’s a lot going on in the coaching chairs of the first Bundesliga. On December 13th, ThSV Eisenach announced that coach Misha Kaufmann would be leaving the Thuringians at the end of the season. According to a press release, the 40-year-old Swiss approached the club on November 9th and asked for his contract, which runs until mid-2027, to be terminated early. They actually didn’t want to cause any unrest before the games until the winter break, but a “dynamic that has been evident in the club and its surroundings in the last few days” forced those responsible to announce it more quickly. The fact that a “willingness to change” is the reason for Kaufmann’s early departure, as stated in the press release, was loudly contradicted by his advisor Ates Oelke handball-world.news in a counter statement: “Misha Kaufmann is de facto not terminating his contract because of another club and has not signed with any other club to date.”
In Flensburg, however, the position of coach became vacant immediately: The SG placed Nicolej Krickau on leave on Saturday after a narrow defeat in Mannheim against the Rhein-Neckar Löwen (29:31; 14:15). The reason for this seems to be a sporting one: poor results against direct league competition for championship titles and Champions League places, which do not correspond to the ambitions of the reigning European League winner.