Norway, Denmark on brink of EHF EURO Cup semi-finals

GROUP 1

Norway vs Poland

Saturday 7 March, 18:15 CET, live on EHFTV

• nine goals of Henny Reistad and 17 saves of goalkeeper Eli Raasok decided the reverse fixture in Poland
• the 31:24 victory was Norway’s 15th consecutive win in the EHF EURO Cup in the same number of matches
• Poland improved after the break, but the match had already been decided at half-time (18:8)
• Poland remain on two points, currently third ranked below Romania, while Norway top the group with six points
• with a total of 19 strikes, Reistad is the second-best scorer of the competition, while Magda Balsam is on 15 goals for Poland

Romania vs Slovakia

Sunday 8 March, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• after a 22:12 lead, Romania almost lost the reverse fixture after Slovakia had a 13:4 run
• the 31:26 was their second victory after beating Poland 32:29; with four points, Romania are second
• Slovakia still wait for their first point after three defeats, but compared to rounds 1 and 2, Thursday’s match showed an upswing
• netting 10 goals on Thursday, Romania's Sorina Grozav extended her lead in the top scorers list, now on 25; Barbora Lancz leads for Slovekia with 18 goals

GROUP 2

Czechia vs Türkiye

Saturday 7 March, 17:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• the reverse fixture on Wednesday was decided already at the break (18:11), as the Czech side took early control and in the end won 34:26
• it was the first EHF EURO Cup victory for the team of Tomas Hlavaty after two clear defeats against Denmark and Hungary
• Türkiye are bottom of the group after three defeats, two points below the Czechs
• top scorers are Nurceren Göktepe Akgün with 14 goals for Türkiye and the duo of Charlotte Cholevova and Valerie Smetková with 12 each for Czechia

Denmark vs Hungary

Sunday 8 March, 16:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• the reverse fixture of the two EHF EURO 2024 medallists on Thursday was open until the final stages, before Denmark had a 7:2 run to win 21:19
• outstanding player of the defence-focused battle was Danish goalkeeper Anna Kristensen with 21 saves, nine more than her Hungarian counterpart Zsófi Szemerey
• it was the second Danish win against Hungary within three months, after their 28:27 main round victory at the World Championship
• Denmark have the optimum of six points on their account, two more than Hungary
• Trine Jensen Østergaard is best Danish scorer with 16 goals, while Petra Simon (14) and Katrin Kluijber (13) lead for Hungary

photos © Fredrik Varfjell (main), Marek Findrik (in-text)