Both Germany’s men’s and women’s teams dominated the second stage of the 2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour (BHGT) on Saturday (13 June) in a rain-affected day in Plock, Poland.

The two day event features both German teams as well as the men’s and women’s teams of Poland and Czechia, joined by the France women and North Macedonia men.

In the men’s competition, current European Championship and The World Games men’s title-holders Germany won both of their games 2-0 to end the day top of their preliminary group, with four points from their two wins.

They first beat host nation Poland 2-0 (26:18, 20:8) with Lennart Liebeck top-scoring on 20 points, and then Lars Zelser grabbed 18 points to top the scoring in their 2-0 (30:6, 34:14) win against BHGT debutants North Macedonia – a +44 point difference, shattering their previous record differential of +30, gained against Liechtenstein back in 2002.

“North Macedonia didn't offer much resistance,” said Germany men’s coach Marten Franke about the game to handball.net. “We, on the other hand, set ourselves specific goals and were able to practice our tactics to gain confidence, but this game certainly wasn't the true measure of our performance, so we don't want to overemphasise the result.”

Czechia and Poland men’s teams ended the opening day in second and third, on two points each, thanks to a win. Czechia won the debutants derby, seeing off North Macedonia 2-0 (22:16, 20:8) with Pavel Choteborsky and Naum Kostov scoring 14 points each for the two sides respectively.

Poland were able to send the host nation fans back home happy, Bartosz Andrzejewski’s 15 points securing a 2-0 (17:16, 19:16) win over the Czech side. With their two losses, North Macedonia finished the opening day of the stage bottom.

Current IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship title-holders (2024) Germany outshone their male counterparts, equalling their record of two wins out of two, but racking up some monster scores.

BHGT debutants France faced a baptism of fire, losing 2-0 (24:12, 8:6) to the German’s who had 12 points from Isabel Kattner to thanks for their win, but the German player did even better in their 2-0 (20:3, 32:20) win over Poland in their evening clash, scoring 22 points.

“It was more difficult to score with a wet ball, which is why the score was tied 4:4 for a long time in the second half of the first set," said Germany women’s coach Alexander Novakovic to handball.net about the game against France. “But we reacted well tactically in the final attacks and deservedly secured the victory.

“Against Poland we handled the situations well and showed a lot of commitment and hard work in defence. This allowed us to take another step forward, and we are now looking forward to the final group match against Czechia (tomorrow).”

Poland had already secured a win before that Germany loss, handing debutants Czechia a 2-1 (23:17, 14:20, SO 8:4) defeat after the visitors had missed three shots in the shoot-out. Katarzyna Adaczynska ended the game as top-scorers, on 18 points.

Another debutants clash saw France easily beat Czechia, Dorothee Blaise scoring 14 points for France in a 2-0 (21:10, 24:6) win to secure second place (2 points) behind leaders Germany (4) and ahead of Poland (2) and Czechia (0).

Tour Finals the goal

The winners of both men’s and women’s competitions in Plock will qualify through to the BHGT Finals stage later this year just like Portugal’s women and Croatia’s men did in Zagreb last month at Stage 1.

Brazil are the current IHF Beach Handball Global Tour title-holders, having won both the men’s and women’s gold medals in the Finals Stage last year.

All matches from Plock are being streamed live on the IHF Competitions YouTube channel. 

2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Stage 2

Women’s competition: Poland, Germany, Czechia, France
Men’s competition: Poland, Germany, Czechia, North Macedonia

RESULTS

Saturday 13 June – Day 1

Preliminary round

Men’s competition
North Macedonia v Czechia 0-2 (16:22, 8:20)
Poland v Germany 0-2 (18:26, 19:22)
Germany v North Macedonia 2-0 (30:6, 34:14)
Czechia v Poland 0-2 (16:17, 16:19)

Women’s competition
Germany v France 2-0 (24:12, 8:6)
Poland v Czechia 2-1 (23:17, 14:20, SO 8:4)
Czechia v France 0-2 (10:21, 6:24)
Poland v Germany 0-2 (3:20, 20:32)

Match Schedule
(all times local)

Sunday 14 June – Day 2

Preliminary round

Men’s competition
1100 Poland v North Macedonia
1200 Germany v Czechia

Women’s competition
0900 Germany v Czechia
1000 France v Poland

Finals

Men’s competition
1600 Bronze medal match
1800 Final

Women’s competition
1500 Bronze medal match
1700 Final

Photo credit: Pawel Bejnarowicz / ZPRP