Germany secured the title in the 10th edition of the Women’s 16 European Open, their maiden trophy in the competition.

20 European teams lined up at the start of the competition, with the duration of the match set at 40 minutes, as the participating teams were divided into four groups of five teams each, with the top eight sides – the group winners plus the second placed teams in each group – advancing to the quarter-finals.

Winners Germany were drawn in Group D, and won against Türkiye (40:6), Portugal (30:20) and Norway (20:11), but lost a dramatic match against previous champions Switzerland, despite mounting a comeback late in the match, after being 6:10 down at the break.

Switzerland won that group, being one of the four undefeated teams in the preliminary round, alongside Croatia, France and Spain, with all but the later winning four out of four.

In Group A, the battle was between Croatia and Hungary, as once again Croatia emerged victorious with wins over Iceland (26:10), Lithuania (32:18) and Czechia (16:15), before another one-goal win against Hungary, 18:17.

Hungary finished second and advanced to the quarter-finals, thanks to a dramatic draw against Czechia, 17:17.

Spain finished Group B with seven points out of a maximum of eight, after winning against Georgia (25:15), Serbia (16:10) and Faroe Islands (16:10), before a draw against the Netherlands, 16:16.

Serbia were second, with their 17:13 win in the last match against the Netherlands being crucial.

France won Group C, with wins over Finland (30:15), Sweden (18:13), Slovakia (18:12) and Romania (22:19), as Romania finished second, their wins against Sweden (25:16) being crucial.

The quarter-finals saw four clear wins, as two second-placed sides in the preliminary round, Germany and Hungary, made it to the semi-finals.

Maja Fruzsina Kohlhoffer, Patricia Tamas and Hanna Molnar combined for 24 goals in Hungary’s 35:25 win against France, while Germany dominated Spain, with a 22:16 win.

Croatia’s win against Romania, 25:21, and Switzerland’s 33:19 win over Serbia also saw them in the semi-finals, but both teams lost against Germany and Hungary.

Germany started getting into the groove and allowed no prisoners in their 35:18 win over Croatia, with 10 outfield players scoring at least one goal, while Hungary won the other semi-final against Switzerland thanks to another fantastic attacking performance, 32:28.

In the final, Germany were once again unstoppable and were leading 13:8 at the break, with a lead which became bigger and bigger in the second half, when top scorers Nika Lemke and Taya Nagel, both with five goals, were unstoppable.

Germany took their maiden title with a 29:17 win, as they went on a scoring spree in the knockout matches, winning all of them by at least six goals.

In the bronze-medal match, Croatia beat Switzerland, 24:23, to secure the last place on the podium.

Germany and Hungary will represent Europe in October at the 2026 IHF Women’s Under-16 World Championship, the maiden edition of the competition created by the IHF.

They will be joined by hosts Morocco, African sides Egypt and Guinea, Asian representatives People’s Republic of China and Uzbekistan, as well as Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, the United States of America and Cook Islands.

Photo credit: DHB