Belgrade 2016 qualification gets underway

****

Slovakia, Russia, Netherlands, Germany win groups

 By: Tim Hartog  National Teams, European Championships, Qualification

The men's teams of Slovakia, Russia, the Netherlands and Germany ended up winning the groups in round 1 of the qualification phase for the 2016 European Championships in Belgrade. In the 2-group women's tournament Greece and France topped their respective groups after 3 games this weekend. For the men it means both 2014 European championships participants Georgia and France had to settle for the 2nd place gaining 6 points while Russia and Germany marched also winning the key matches in group B and D respectively. In group C the conclusion of the action in the city of Utrecht came on Sunday afternoon as hosts the Netherlands managed to beat France, who were playing without captain Michaël Bodegas, 12-9 in front of a capacity crowd. The decision in group A was already made on Friday as Slovakia held off home team Georgia 10-11 to take the top spot. Next up is round 2, to be played between 9-11 October with a new draw to fill in these groups. The cumulative points gained by the teams over the 2 rounds will decide the 8 men's and 6 women's teams who will qualify for the 2016 Europeans out of the qualification phase.

Russia marches on in group B

 By: Tim Hartog  National Teams, European Championships, Qualification

The winners and losers of the round 1 weekend in the qualification phase of the 2016 European Championships became clear on day 2 of action across Europe on Saturday. After their big battle on Friday both Georgia and Slovakia made no mistake the following day and posted solid, comfortable wins on Saturday. In group B Russia dominates competition. After beating Poland 6-16 on Friday, Ukraine had no chance of coming even close to an upset as they suffer a 16-3 defeat to the favourite Russians where Konstantin Stepanyuk led all scorers with 5. Meanwhile in group C hosts Netherlands gained a pivotal win over Malta in the battle for at least 2nd place as they ended up victorious 19-11 in a high-scoring game. France had an easy one facing Latvia who were crushed for a 2nd straight time: 39-0. In group D Germany and hosts Turkey set up a big meeting for the top spot on Sunday after both winning their 2nd in a row. Lithuania suffered a 14-6 loss to Turkey followed by Germany rolling past Belarus 6-17. Elsewhere in the women's tournament Turkey had no trouble overcoming Switzerland in a one-sided contest (5-24) while group A hosts France rolled away from Portugal in the 2nd quarter only to stop at a convincing 18-7 final score. Group B will only be interesting for the 2nd spot. Greece dominates competition and downed Germany 3-16 on day 2 in Zagreb. Hosts Croatia topped Israel 12-7 to set up a head-to-head duel with the Germans for 2nd place on Sunday

Favourites deliver on day 1 of Belgrade 2016 qualification

 By: Tim Hartog  National Teams, European Championships, Qualification

The opening day of the qualification phase to the 2016 European Championships featured little surprises as the favourites all got underway well gaining three points straight away. The closest match-up was on display in Tbilisi, Georgia where the home team suffered a dramatic loss to Slovakia, in what might have been the game for the top spot in group A of round 1. Elsewhere Israel got their confidence going by holding off the more favourite Ukraine side 9-12 in Poland. The hosts were up next but could not cause an upset facing Russia. The Russians, one of the 4 teams who are coming off a 2014 European Championships participation now in the qualification phase for the next edition, ran away right from the start and recorded a convincing 6-16 victory. 

In the Netherlands favourites France and the hosts confirmed their status on day 1. The newly formed team of Latvia was crushed in rarely seen fashion suffering a grueling 52-0 loss against the home team. France crushed Malta 21-4 in the following match so that it seems both the Netherlands and France are up for the top spot battle this weekend in the city of Utrecht. In group D, played in Istanbul, both Germany and Turkey proved to be the teams to look at this weekend. The Germans crushed Lithuania 20-2 in the group's opening match followed by Turkey dominating Belarus 9-2. Meanwhile in the women's tournament round 1, hosts France and Portugal got off nicely by recording big wins. The Turkish ladies saw Portugal running away to a 14-7 followed by France blowing out Switzerland 34-3. In group B, in Zagreb, 2011 world champions Greece did what was expected in a beating hosts Croatia 5-13. Germany topped that score in the next match as Israel was trashed 6-20 to conclude the action of day 1.

2016 European Championships
Belgrade, serbia

Qualification Tournament
Round 1

MEN

Group A (in Tbilisi, Georgia)

Friday, 6 February
Georgia vs. Slovakia 10-11
Portugal vs. Switzerland

Saturday, 7 February
17.00: Slovakia vs. Portugal
18.45: Georgia vs. Switzerland

Sunday, 8 February
10.00: Switzerland vs. Slovakia
11.45: Georgia vs. Portugal

Group B (in Gorzow, Poland)

Friday, 6 February
Ukraine vs. Israel 9-12 (3-3, 3-5, 2-3, 1-1)
Poland vs. Russia 6-16 (1-5, 1-3, 2-5, 2-3)

Saturday, 7 February
17.00: Russia vs. Ukraine
18.30: Poland vs. Israel

Sunday, 8 February
09.00: Russia vs. Israel
10.30: Poland vs. Ukraine

Group C (in Utrecht, Netherlands)

Friday, 6 February
Netherlands vs. Latvia 52-0 (15-0, 14-0, 9-0, 14-0)
France vs. Malta 21-4 (4-0, 7-1, 5-2, 5-1)

Saturday, 7 February
15.15: Netherlands vs. Malta
16.45: France vs. Latvia

Sunday, 8 February
12.15: Malta vs. Latvia
13.45: Netherlands vs. France

Group D (in Istanbul, Turkey)

Friday, 6 February
Germany vs. Lithuania 20-2 (5-0, 3-1, 7-0, 5-1)
Turkey vs. Belarus 9-2 (2-0, 2-0, 3-1, 2-1)

Saturday, 7 February
18.00: Turkey vs. Lithuania
19.30: Belarus vs. Germany

Sunday, 8 February
12.00: Lithuania vs. Belarus
13.30: Turkey vs. Germany

WOMEN

Group A (in Longwy, France)

Friday, 6 February
Portugal vs. Turkey 14-7 (4-1, 3-2, 2-3, 5-1)
France vs. Switzerland 34-3 (9-1, 11-2, 6-0, 8-0)

Saturday, 7 February
18.00: Switzerland vs. Turkey
19.45: France vs. Portugal

Sunday, 8 February
09.00: Portugal vs. Switzerland
11.00: France vs. Turkey

Group B (in Zagreb, Croatia)

Friday, 6 February
Croatia vs. Greece 5-13 (0-3, 1-3, 3-5, 1-2)
Israel vs. Germany 6-20 (0-3, 2-5, 2-5, 2-7)

Saturday, 7 February
18.00: Croatia vs. Israel
19.15: Germany vs. Greece

Sunday, 8 February
11.00: Greece vs. Israel
12.15: Croatia vs. Germany

N.b.: times mentioned are local time.

Round 2
9-11 October.

Belgrade 2016 qualification gets underway

 By: Tim Hartog  National Teams, European Championships, Qualification

Starting Friday the long road to the Belgrade 2016 European Championships will start for men's and women's teams not able to finish with the top 8 or top 5 at the last 2014 European Championships in Budapest. Two mini tournament will see plenty of opportunities for new teams to step in as the 2016 edition of Europe's continental championship hold an extended range of participants as now 16 men's and 12 women's teams will play for the top honours. In 4 men's groups, played across Europe, the sides that did participate in Budapest last summer can be considered favourite to claim their spot at the 2016 championships as well. But apart from Georgia, Russia, Germany and France, the question will be which 'new' sides could join them to the final round. 

First up however is this weekend's first round, followed by an other, 2nd round, mid-October after which the cumulative best 8 sides will qualify for the championships. The same goes for the women although here it will be the top 6 sides who join the 6 directly qualified teams, including hosts Serbia. In this case the top 5 from the 2014 championships qualified directly meaning 2011 world champions Greece, who finished a dissapointing 6th, will have to play qualification. The Greek women were drawn in group B and will play Croatia, Israel and Germany over the weekend in Zagreb.


2016 European Championships
Belgrade, serbia

Qualification Tournament
Round 1

MEN

Group A (in Tbilisi, Georgia)

Friday, 6 February
18.45: Georgia vs. Slovakia
20.00: Portugal vs. Switzerland

Saturday, 7 February
17.00: Slovakia vs. Portugal
18.45: Georgia vs. Switzerland

Sunday, 8 February
10.00: Switzerland vs. Slovakia
11.45: Georgia vs. Portugal

Group B (in Gorzow, Poland)

Friday, 6 February
17.00: Ukraine vs. Israel
18.30: Poland vs. Russia

Saturday, 7 February
17.00: Russia vs. Ukraine
18.30: Poland vs. Israel

Sunday, 8 February
09.00: Russia vs. Israel
10.30: Poland vs. Ukraine

Group C (in Utrecht, Netherlands)

Friday, 6 February
19.45: Netherlands vs. Latvia
21.15: France vs. Malta

Saturday, 7 February
15.15: Netherlands vs. Malta
16.45: France vs. Latvia

Sunday, 8 February
12.15: Malta vs. Latvia
13.45: Netherlands vs. France

Group D (in Istanbul, Turkey)

Friday, 6 February
18.00: Germany vs. Lithuania
19.30: Turkey vs. Belarus

Saturday, 7 February
18.00: Turkey vs. Lithuania
19.30: Belarus vs. Germany

Sunday, 8 February
12.00: Lithuania vs. Belarus
13.30: Turkey vs. Germany

* Live streaming of all group D matches available, click here.

Hosts in round 2 (9-11 October, 2015): Russia, Israel, France and Malta.

Playing format:
• Two rounds of robin tournaments at different venues.
• New draw will be conducted after Round I, with new seeding based on the classification in Round I. Points achieved are carried to Round II. Teams of a group of three will have three points added.
• First two seeded sides of the cumulative rankings from each group (8 teams) will promote to the European Championships to be held in Belgrade (SRB) in 2016.

Directly qualified:

Serbia (hosts), Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Greece, Spain, Romania.

WOMEN

Group A (in Longwy, France)
Friday, 6 February
18.00: Portugal vs. Turkey
20.00: France vs. Switzerland

Saturday, 7 February
18.00: Switzerland vs. Turkey
19.45: France vs. Portugal

Sunday, 8 February
09.00: Portugal vs. Switzerland
11.00: France vs. Turkey

Group B (in Zagreb, Croatia)

Friday, 6 February
20.30: Croatia vs. Greece
21.45: Israel vs. Germany

Saturday, 7 February
18.00: Croatia vs. Israel
19.15: Germany vs. Greece

Sunday, 8 February
11.00: Greece vs. Israel
12.15: Croatia vs. Germany

N.b.: times mentioned are local time.

Hosts in round 2 (9-11 October, 2015): Germany and Portugal.

Playing format:
• Two rounds of robin tournaments at different venues.
• New draw will be conducted after Round I, with new seeding based on the classification in Round I. Points achieved are carried to Round II.
• First three seeded sides of the cumulative rankings from both groups (6 teams) will promote to the European Championships to be held in Belgrade (SRB) in 2016.

Directly qualified:

Spain, Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Serbia (hosts).