India and Brazil make Youth World Championship debuts on decisive preliminary round day
14 Jun. 2022
Just under half of the total of 24 preliminary round games have been played after the first day of the IHF Women's Youth (U18) Beach Handball World Championship in Greece.
Nine games remain on day two, when the second – and final – day of preliminary round games gets underway, with Brazil and India playing their first games of the tournament in Group B.
After arriving late in Heraklion, the two teams saw their match schedule change from two games on Tuesday, to all three on Wednesday. That in itself will be a challenge, but they both face immediate threats with European opponents in their opening game.
India will play Ukraine and Brazil take on Spain, with the clash between the two European teams – won by Spain – the sole game played so far in the group, meaning all three main round qualification places from the group are still up for grabs.
Group A in Heraklion has title-holders Hungary already through after they beat both Poland and Uruguay with Hungarian specialist Lili Lévai telling us on the opening day via our live blog that they “...really want to defend the title,” and revealing they had been training with the 2017 winners.
Germany and Argentina are both through in Group C – having won two matches each, they clash for top spot – while Romania and France play off for the third and final spot.
Group D is the same, with host nation Greece through alongside Netherlands after they both won their games against Puerto Rico and Hong Kong. Those two teams will play off for a main round ticket at 12:10.
For more reactions, interviews and quotes from the opening day of the championship, visit our live blog.