Tournament 2: Russia and Hungary can clinch Olympic berths

20 Mar. 2021

Tournament 2: Russia and Hungary can clinch Olympic berths

Both Russia and Hungary started the Tokyo Handball Qualification – Women’s Tournament 2 in Győr on a high, beating Serbia and Kazakhstan, respectively.

If both teams win again, they will book their Olympic tickets, but while Russia are seen as strong favourites against Kazakhstan, Hungary will face a much more difficult test against Serbia, who only need a win to stay in the fight.

Serbia vs Hungary 17:30 CET

For Hungary, beating Kazakhstan in their opening match was a must, and the tournament hosts showed their attacking power winning 46:19.

While the Hungarians were inspired by such a commanding victory, they perfectly realise that the most important matches are yet to come.

“With all due respect to Kazakhstan, the meaningful part of the competition starts tomorrow for us,” their coach Gabor Elek said after the match.

A victory against Serbia is likely to secure an Olympic ticket for Hungary, but a defeat will significantly worsen their chance of qualifying.

“I hope that in the next match, we will not lack power and pace that we showed against Kazakhstan,” said left back Klara Csiszar-Szekeres.

At the Women’s EHF EURO 2020, Hungary defeated Serbia by 12 goals, 38:26, but now the Balkan team are looking for revenge.

The Serbs fought hard in their opening game against Russia, but lost 24:29, and it will be a do-or-die match for them on Saturday.

Only a win will allow them to stay in contention, and Serbia hope to show their best qualities.

“Our defence need to work, and the whole squad have to be more focused. Fast breaks may be the key for success,” their pivot Dragana Cvijic said.
Serbia’s coach Ljubomir Obradovic also believes in his team. 

“Hope dies last. We will fight tomorrow,” he promised after the game with Russia. 

Russia vs Kazakhstan 20:30 CET

While the match against Serbia was not easy, reigning Olympic champions Russia claimed two points and made a big step towards qualifying for Tokyo.

“We made many mistakes, as we were nervous, but I think we will be better day by day,” the head coach Alexey Alekseev said.

Now Russia need to beat Kazakhstan and in this case – provided Hungary do not lose against Serbia – they may clinch an Olympic spot already on Saturday.

Kazakhstan were regarded as group outsiders, and the first match against Hungary showed that it is hard for them to compete at this level.

“We are sad because we wanted to do much better in defence. Conceding 46 goals is not what we wanted,” said goalkeeper Iuliia Poilova.

While these games are a good learning experience for the Asian team, it will be difficult for them to claim points from Russia, which is also suggested by the results of their previous encounters. 

They have met twice at IHF World Championships, and both times the Russians claimed convincing wins 34:19 in 2011 and 42:19 in 2015.

Photo: HHF/Anikó Kovács