The last time that both our handball national teams were able to participate in summer five-ring games was two decades ago. After our men’s national team qualified for the Olympics in Tatabánya barely a month ago, they bought their “air ticket to Paris” in much calmer conditions. our women’s team won all three of their matches at the qualifying tournament in Debrecen with a great game. Thus, both our handball teams can compete in the Paris Olympics – for the first time since 2004.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was time to find out who our team’s opponents will be in the group stage in the French capital. The men’s national team, that is, the team of national team captain Chema Rodríguez, was drawn from the third hat, while the team of Vladimir Golovin could wait for the draw from the first hat – at the same time, in the case of the latter, it turned out that the two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion Norway will avoid Norway in the group stage.
The 12-12 teams were drawn into two quartets of six according to the following schedule:
- Men: 1. hat: Denmark, Spain 2. hat: Croatia, Norway 3. hat: HUNGARY, Germany 4. hat: Slovenia, France 5. hat: Sweden, Egypt 6. hat: Argentina, Japan
- Women: 1. hat: Norway, HUNGARY 2. hat: Netherlands, Germany 3. hat: Slovenia, Spain 4. hat: Sweden, France 5. hat: Denmark, Brazil 6. hat: Angola, South Korea
The lottery in Paris was held on Tuesday afternoon, on the occasion of which the Hungarian association organized a press event at its headquarters on the date of the draw. The national team captain of the women’s national team appeared Vladimir Golovinrepresenting the men’s team László Nagyas well as the president of the association, Ferenc Ilyés. So, together with the protagonists, they excitedly drew the group assignment.
Even before the draw, Ferenc Ilyés highlighted, for him, extraordinary happiness that almost exactly one year after he started his work as president, Hungarian handball can celebrate such a success. They were really looking forward to both qualifying tournaments, they are very happy about the successes, but they hope that our national teams will achieve even greater victories in Paris.
The draw began with the group classification of the women’s tournament, from the sixth seed to the increasingly stronger doubles. The only exception was the fourth hat, as France could optionally choose a group for the last time as a director.
The Hungarian national team was drawn into Group B, alongside the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Angola and France.
According to the schedule, our national team will start the group stage against the host French team on July 25. Argentina, Norway, Denmark and France follow in that order.
As for our men’s national team, the team of national team captain Chema Rodríguez received a slightly more difficult draw: our team was also placed in Group B, alongside Egypt, Argentina, Norway, Denmark and France. The first match We will play against Egypt – July 27.
Vladimir Golovin, the captain of the women’s national team, said in connection with the preparations and Olympic preparations, that the exact schedule of the team is still being developed. Several participating countries – such as Slovenia or Spain – have already indicated the need to play preparatory matches with our national team, but nothing is certain yet – at the same time, the national team captain plans to prepare for four and a half weeks before the Olympics. He emphasized that their clear goal is to play as many matches as possible at home until Paris.
Photo: Péter Papajcsik/Index
The men’s handball tournament begins on Saturday, July 27, and the women’s group stage matches begin two days earlier, on July 25 – the opening ceremony will take place on the 26th. According to the program of the Paris Olympics, the starting times of the group matches will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The group classification of the handball tournaments of the Paris Olympics
- Men, Group A: Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Sweden, Japan
- Men, Group B: France, Denmark, Norway, HUNGARY, Egypt, Argentina
- Women, Group A: Sweden, Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Denmark, South Korea
- Women, Group B: France, HUNGARY, the Netherlands, SpainBrazil, Angola
(Cover photo: Péter Papajcsik/Index)
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