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EURO title holders Slovenia open versus Tunisia

15 Jul. 2019

EURO title holders Slovenia open versus Tunisia

The current European title holders for the U20 age group, Slovenia, will begin their title quest at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship versus Tunisia in the opening round one game for Group A on Tuesday 16 July. As the champions of the most competitive continent, Slovenia are certainly a favourite at Spain 2019, and their first match will set the stage for the campaign to come. 

After Slovenia and Tunisia open the day for the group, Serbia will take on Japan at 18:30. Group A will wrap up with hosts Spain beginning their campaign in the second host city, Pontevedra, where they will meet the USA at 21:00 local time.  

GROUP A
Feature match: Slovenia vs Tunisia
As Travesas Sport Hall, 16:30 local time

Slovenia were the first team to overthrow France’s 1998 generation, when they claimed the U20 EHF EURO title on home ground last summer. Prior to that, France had won both major international titles contested by this generation, making Slovenia’s first continental trophy in the U20 age group all the more special. 

As the current European champions, Slovenia are clearly one of the contenders for the medals at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship. They will begin their campaign versus the current 2018 African Junior Handball Championship runners-up, Tunisia. 

“Our strongest spot is the homogeneity of our team,” says Slovenia coach Sasa Prapotnik. “Our goal is to reach the semi-finals, where everything is possible. But we will take one step at the time and will focus only on the upcoming match.”

The first match for Slovenia will not be an easy one. Tunisia can never be underestimated, with their physical game and traditionally solid keepers and fluid attack. Indeed, these same squads met at the 2017 Youth World Championship, with Tunisia taking a 29:26 victory. They also ranked higher than Slovenia on the final standings, in 11th, while the European team placed 13th at Georgia 2017. 

Intercontinental clashes close round one 

Following the clash of European champions and African runners-up, Group A’s round one schedule will continue with Serbia meeting Japan at 18:30 local time. Japan far outranked Serbia at Georgia 2017 – placing eighth while Serbia were 18th – which would seem to signify that Serbia will have their work cut out for them in this opening encounter. 

However, Serbia climbed the rankings at last summer’s U20 EHF EURO however, finishing eighth, indicating they may have become stronger over the last two years. Meanwhile, Japan were narrowly defeated in the final of the Asian championship, losing to Republic of Korea by two goals after extra time. 

The first day of competition for Group A, usually based in Vigo, will end in Pontevedra. Spain will play their only match of the preliminary round in the second host city, taking on the USA at 21:00 local time. 

As the silver medallists at the 2017 Youth World Championship and fifth-place finishers at the U20 EURO last summer, Spain are expected to be stronger than their Pan American opponents, who qualified for what is their second Men’s Junior World Championship as winners of their regional IHF Trophy. 

Live stream for all matches will be provided on ihf.info. Simply click ‘match details’ for a live score, live stream option and all the match statistics.