Spain’s women and Germany’s men have won the second stage of the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour (BHGT).

Their results mean both national teams have now qualified through to the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour – Finals to be held later this year in Qatar.

Stage 2 of the 2024 tour was held in the historic Spanish port city of Cádiz across two days (15 to 16 August) and featured the men’s and women’s national teams of Germany, Portugal, Denmark and Spain.

The opening day (read the day review HERE) featured round-robin group games, with day two seeing the wrap up of that preliminary stage followed by the 3/4 placement games and finals in both competitions.

Spain women send home fans home happy

After losing to neighbours Portugal on Thursday (15 August), Spain were motivated to make amends on day two – and they did in style, but only after Denmark took them to a shoot-out in their final round-robin game.

Having taken the first set 22:16, Spain were set for another win, but Denmark’s Mathilde Guldager Ostergaard had other ideas, scoring twice late on in the second, her single point taking it to a shoot-out. But, a miss from Anna Lilleso Nielsen with the first shot would prove fatal for the Danes as Spain took it 9:8. The deadly Spanish duo of Maria Asuncion Batista Portero and Jimena Laguna Contreas ended the game with 18 points apiece.

The opening women’s game of the day had also gone to a shoot-out with Portugal taking a 2-1 (16:18, 20:14, SO 7:2) victory, including 13 points from Daniela Mendes, but it was the four missed shots in the shoot-out from the much-changed world champions Germany which proved costly.

These results set up a placement 3/4 match between Germany and Denmark which also went to a shoot-out after two tight sets. Isabel Kattner’s two-pointer was enough to take the first set for Germany, but Freja Hauge Hansen responded for the Danes with two shots late on in the second, including a single point to make the game level. Despite missing two shots, Kristina Krecken’s single point was enough to take bronze for Germany after the Danes had missed three of their own shots.

The final itself was more business-like for Spain, who took a 20:18, 24:14, 2-0 win with Portero and Contreas amassing 26 points between them, ensuring qualification through to Qatar.

“The team played and competed very well in the final and I think we were fair winners,” said Spain coach Juan Pablo Morillo to rfebm.com. “We were able to recover from the difficulties, with all the players showing great competitive character. The assessment is very positive, as it could not be otherwise when winning this tournament against such important rivals and qualifying for the final phase.

“These matches help us to continue growing as a group and as individual players in view of the upcoming major international events,” he added. “Competing at home in front of our fans, in a spectacular atmosphere, has been another incentive. We are happy to show our best version and that the public has been able to enjoy it.”

Host nation hearts broken as German men seal title and finals qualification

Spain’s men could not repeat the success of their women in front of their passionate home crowd, going down via shoot-out to Germany in the final (4:7). After a single point from Javier Delgado Sanchez, the hosts took the first set (25:24), but could not repeat it in the second as the visitors won 26:22.

So, it went to a shoot-out and with misses from both Delgado and Adria Ortola Lopez, Robin John’s single point was enough to take the stage win, despite a miss from Kari Klebinger. Gonzalo Manuel Cervera Perez de Vargas ended the gold medal match with 22 points from Spain but they proved not to be enough in the end.

In the placement 3/4 match, Rodrigo Gomes’ 16 points saw Portugal ease to a 2-0 (18:14, 22:20) win over Denmark, who had lost their earlier, round-robin game against Spain (0-2) – this meant that, like their women’s side, Denmark’s men ended the stage with four losses from four games.

In the opening men’s game of the final day, 12 points each from Kari Klebinger, Severin Henrich, and Robin John from Germany saw them take down Portugal, but they needed a shoot-out and two Portugal misses to do it.

All 16 matches of the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Stage 2 can be watched again on the IHF YouTube Competitions channel.

2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Stage 2

Final Ranking

Men’s Competition
1. Germany (GER) 2. Spain (ESP)
3. Portugal (POR)
4. Denmark (DEN)

Women’s Competition
1. Spain (ESP)
2. Portugal (POR)
3. Germany (GER)
4. Denmark (DEN)

Results 

Men’s Competition
POR vs DEN 2-0 (13:12, 20:16)
GER vs ESP 0-2 (18:19, 16:17)
DEN vs GER 1-2 (22:23, 20:17, SO 8:9)
POR vs ESP 0-2 (14:16, 20:23) 
GER vs POR 2-1 (22:24, 20:19, SO 9:6)
ESP vs DEN 2-0 (18:17, 27:24)
Placement 3/4: POR vs DEN 2-0 (18:14, 22:20)
Final: ESP vs GER 1-2 (25:24, 22:26, SO 4:7)

Women’s Competition
POR vs DEN 2-0 (14:10, 19:12)
GER vs ESP 0-2 (26:28, 24:26)
DEN vs GER 0-2 (18:19, 12:18)
POR vs ESP 2-0 (20:18, 14:12)
GER vs POR 1-2 (18:16, 14:20, SO 2:7)
ESP vs DEN 2-1 (22:16, 24:25, SO 9:8)
Placement 3/4: GER vs DEN 2-1 (22:20, 20:21, SO 5:4)
Final: POR vs ESP 0-2 (18:20, 14:24)

2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Stage 2
Location: Cadiz, Spain
Dates: 15 to 16 August
Men’s Teams: Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Spain
Women’s Teams: Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Spain

About the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour
The IHF Beach Handball Global Tour was launched at the 2022 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Greece and debuted in Gdansk, Poland with Croatia winning the men’s tournament and Spain taking the top spot in the women’s tournament.

The 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour visited Brazil, Tunisia and Poland before the Finals Stage was held in Doha, Qatar in November, with Qatar’s men and Brazil’s women taking the overall titles.

The 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour commenced in May with Stage 1 in Maricá, Brazil. The host nation won both the men’s and women’s competitions.

Credit photo: RFEBM / J.L. Recio