With the third edition of the IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship throwing-off in Hammamet, Tunisia later this month, ihf.info takes a look at the second edition, held three years ago in Greece.

The background: Following the debut of the championship at Mauritius in 2017, the second edition had been set for Nazaré, Portugal in 2021, but was initially postponed to 2022 due to the covid pandemic before subsequently being cancelled. The championship was then put out to tender by the IHF in May 2021 with Greece nominated in November 2021 and then later confirmed.

The event: The second edition of the IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship, featured 16 teams playing 72 games at the ‘Karteros Beach Sports Center’ on the Greek island of Heraklion, from 14 to 19 July 2022.

What was new: A full, 16-team women’s competition was held for the first time, following the debut edition in 2017 featuring 14 teams, after Togo and Brazil had withdrawn.

It was the first time a youth world championship had been held after the debut of beach handball at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The competition also marked the first time the youth event had been held in Europe, and the first at the newly-created Karteros venue, which was to be used fully for the first time at the then upcoming 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games.

The competition: The draw took place in May 2022 at the Aquila Atlantis Hotel in Heraklion and also included the draws of both the 2022 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships and 2022 IHF Men’s Youth (U18) Beach Handball World Championship.

The draw saw special guests Eleftherios Avgenakis, Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports and MP for Heraklion, alongside Giampiero Masi, Chairman of the IHF Beach Handball Working Group, Hellenic Handball Federation President Konstantinos Gkantis, Local Organising Committee President Konstantinos Violitzis, “Heraklion 2022” Event Manager Panagiotis Traikoglou and Michael Batiste, assistant coach for the NBA basketball side Washington Wizards and former basketball legend in attendance.

The competition format consisted of an initial four preliminary groups of four teams each. After playing each other in their group once, the top three in each group went through to two main round groups of six each. The bottom team in each preliminary group dropped into a consolation round.

The top four teams in each main round group then went into the knockout stages, starting with the quarter-finals, then semi-finals and medal matches. The bottom two teams in each group then moved into the 9-16 placement round where they faced the teams from the consolation round.

Who won: Spain

You can view the mini-site on IHF.info HERE.

Review: All four preliminary groups saw the top team in each one win all three of their games 2-0 in a show of dominance from Spain, Argentina, Hungary and Netherlands, who would eventually all finish inside the top five, two of them on the podium.

In group A, Hungary entered the event as one of the favourites, arriving in Heraklion as title-holders, having won the debut edition in Mauritius back in 2017, beating then European champions Netherlands via a shoot-out (7:4) to take gold. They followed that up with the European title in 2021. In Greece, they saw off Poland, Thailand and Uruguay to finish top and move into the main round, Uruguay missing out after losing all three of their games.

Spain beat Brazil and Ukraine, who joined them in the main round, as well as India, in group B. The Asian side lost all three of their games but history was made as they represented their nation in the first-ever beach handball world championship match for the nation in any age group or either gender, with Kritika Thakur scoring their first-ever point.

Group C featured another title favourite, with 2017 world championship bronze medallists and 2018 Youth Olympic Games gold medallists Argentina dispatching all three of their European opponents – Germany, France and Romania without dropping a set. 

For the historic and multiple-title winning handball nation of Romania, despite three losses, having never had a team qualify for an IHF Beach Handball World Championship previously, their solitary set gained against Youth Olympic Games champions Argentina meant history.

Netherlands saw off three opponents from three continents to take the group D title. Greece, Puerto Rico and Hong Kong were all beaten with ease, the Asian side losing all three of their games to move into the consolation round. 

The final preliminary group match between Puerto Rico and Hong Kong saw a number of historic moments, starting with both teams winning their first-ever world championship sets. The eventual 3:2 shoot-out win for the central American side represented their first-ever IHF Beach Handball World Championship victory.

After the main round concluded, Hungary remained the only unbeaten side, having defeated Spain, Brazil and Ukraine to seal a quarter-final spot ahead of Spain, Brazil and Poland from main round group I. 

A tight main round group II saw Germany, Netherlands and Argentina all end with one loss and eight points each, but all progressed through to the quarter-finals, along with France. Hosts Greece crashed out of contention earlier than wanted, joined by Puerto Rico in the 9-16 placement round where they were welcomed by Thailand and Ukraine from group I.

The consolation round had its own history too. Romania won their first-ever IHF Beach Handball World Championship game in either gender at any level, thanks to an 8:2 shoot-out win over Uruguay, while Hong Kong defeated India 2-0 (16:15, 15:12) to win their first-ever too.

In the 9-16 placement round, India made further history – their 2-1 loss against Greece including their first-ever set won, when they took the second 13:12 thanks to a point from Kritika Thakur.

The quarter-finals opened with the title-holders Hungary defeating France 2-0, followed by Netherlands’ seeing off Brazil 2-0, but winning both sets by a solitary point each. 19:20 down at the end of the second set, Brazil needed a win to take it to a shoot-out but Dutch goalkeeper Veerle Meerstad had other ideas, stopping the shot to ensure a 2-0 victory.

Poland, who had finished in the last qualifying place in their main round group, saw off Germany via shoot-out 7:6, while Spain defeated Argentina 2-0 to make the semi-finals an all-European affair.

Further history for India was made in the 13-16 placement round ahead of the semi-finals as their 2-0 (18:15, 14:12) defeat of Puerto Rico saw them win the first-ever IHF Beach Handball World Championship match for the nation in any age group or either gender.

After losing in the world championship final in 2017, the Youth Olympic Games bronze medal match in 2018 and European championship final in 2021, the Netherlands finally beat Hungary, taking a 2-0 (21:20, 22:21) win – it was the first loss for Hungary at Greece 2022 and a big one. 

The other semi-final between surprise package and favourites Spain went to a shoot-out, with Maria Trujillo Arteaga in the Spanish goal the hero, blocking two shots in a row to seal a 6:4 win.

Poland then handed Hungary their second, successive defeat, winning another shoot-out, this time for bronze, seeing off the title-holders 7:2. They raced to a 6:0 lead after blocking two Hungary attempts and with the score at 6:2 and just two shots left each, Poland's Marta Celka knew if she scored her side would be taking a medal home. She got the single point needed.

Spain and Netherlands served up a record points-fest in the final. Since the senior IHF Beach Handball World Championships started in 2004 and the youth editions in 2017, 30 points had never-ever been scored in a set in a final – a total of 18 finals - 16 senior and two youth.

They promptly both decided to break that record, Spain winning the first set 30:16 and Netherlands’ the second, 30:22. While it might not have been a final for defence-lovers, the fans loved it and the final game went down to a shoot-out. 

After the shoot-out entered the sixth round following two misses by both teams - including a technical fault from Spain with their very first shot – Netherlands missed their opener in sudden death, allowing Spanish specialist Maria Laguna Contreras to shoot directly into an open goal, after evading the defender, to take the title (8:6).

"We don't have words to define it," said Contreras about winning gold. "We made a perfect championship. I feel very, very happy."

Greece 2022 – IHF Women's Youth Beach Handball World Championship

Final Ranking
1. Spain
2. Netherlands
3. Poland
4. Hungary
5. Argentina
6. France
7. Germany
8. Brazil
9. Romania
10. Ukraine
11. Thailand
12. Greece
13. Uruguay
14. India
15. Puerto Rico
16. Hong Kong

All-star Team
On the final day of competition, the All-star Team was selected by the IHF Beach Handball Working Group. The selection was based on performance throughout the championship.

Five national teams are represented among the individual positions, plus a sixth team that has received the Fair Play Award.    

MVP: Eva Heuten, Netherlands
Best goalkeeper: Paula Quiles Vera, Spain
Best left wing: Eva Heuten, Netherlands
Best right wing: Cayetana Martin Lopez, Spain
Best specialist: Margit Zentai, Hungary
Best pivot: Carolin Hübner, Germany
Best defender: Paulina Kozminska, Poland
Top scorer: Eva Heuten, Netherlands – 147 points
Fair Play Award: Greece

What happened next: Some players stayed in Greece for the subsequent, senior, IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship, while the following year players and teams from Greece 2022 participated in their respective continental championships.
 
To take a look back at the debut, 2017 IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships, click HERE.