For the first time since 2017, Great Britain secured a winning start at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, dominating Cyprus for the second time in three months, taking a 37:23 win.

GROUP A
Cyprus vs Great Britain 23:37 (15:20)

In January, Great Britain and Cyprus met in a fiery encounter in the Qualifications for the Men’s EHF EURO 2028 and the British team secured a narrow 28:26 win. Were they primed to repeat against the runners-up of the 2023 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, in the last match of the first day of the fifth edition of the competition in Varna?

The British side started off well, with a 2:0 run, which was immediately matched by Cyprus. But with goalkeeper Kylian Ferrier in fine form and Cyprus turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, Great Britain looked stronger.

First, they took a 3:0 unanswered run, followed by another 3:1 run, powered by the top goal scorer of the previous edition, Francisco Pereira. Immediately, an experienced Cyprus team used their own 3:0 run to cut the gap to a single goal, 8:7, after 14 minutes, but it was the last time when last edition’s runners-up came close to their opponents.

By the 38th minute, Great Britain had a 10-goal lead, 28:18, with Pereira and Sebastian Vellenoveth combining for 13 goals at that point, five less than the entire Cyprus squad, as the British side hit an outstanding 79% of their shots.

After Cyprus scored the first goal of the second half, they failed to produce another goal for the next 11 minutes, and by that time, Great Britain had engineered an 9:0 unanswered run, with Ferrier saving 11 shots for a 41% saving efficiency. When Cyprus finally broke the deadlock after 11 minutes and  27 seconds, Great Britain were already up, 29:16.

There was no chance of a comeback, as Great Britain still controlled the match, limiting their opponents to only eight goals scored in the second half, with Cyprus eventually turning the ball over 21 times throughout the match.

It was a total collapse in atac for Cyprus, which, by the end of the match had a meagre 46% shooting efficiency, with Great Britain clinching their largest win against an European side at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship since putting 13 goals past Ireland, 39:26, in the Placement Match 11/12 in 2017.

Great Britain could seal a semi-finals spot provided they win against Bulgaria tomorrow, while Cyprus look to bounce back in the last match of the day, when they meet Paraguay.

Player of the Match: Francisco Pereira (Great Britain)