Tournament in Germany
France reaches for gold at the European Handball Championships
Elohim Prandi (l) saved the French into extra time with a free throw in the last second. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
France last won the European Championship title in 2014. Ten years later, the opportunity for a fourth gold triumph presents itself.
Olympic champion France reached the final of the European Handball Championship with a strong performance and dethroned defending champions Sweden.
The three-time European champion prevailed in a dramatic semi-final in Cologne with 34:30 (27:27, 17:11) after extra time and will play for gold on Sunday against the winner of the duel between world champions Denmark and European Championship hosts Germany.
After a balanced start, the record world champion from France went on a 7-0 run from 3-4 to 10-4. In this phase, the Swedes were unable to score for almost nine minutes because they were repeatedly denied by the strong French goalkeeper Samir Bellahcene from the German record champions THW Kiel.
The Scandinavians, who won their fifth European Championship title two years ago, initially chased this deficit in vain. France controlled the action and, thanks to a stable defense, never allowed the record champions to get closer than four goals until the break.
In attack, left winger Hugo Descat once again proved to be the most accurate shooter for the French, who defeated the German team in the preliminary round, with eight goals. Felix Claar (8) from Champions League winner SC Magdeburg was the best thrower for the Swedes, who gained new hope after the change. After a 7-1 run, the game was suddenly open again at 18:18 (40th).
Prandi saves France in extra time
Now it was a duel of equals in which Sweden’s goalkeeper Andreas Palicka became more and more of a factor. The 37-year-old, who previously played for THW Kiel and Rhein-Neckar Löwen in the Bundesliga for a long time, fended off 15 throws from the French.
At the end of regular time, Sweden thought they were already in the final at 27:26, but there was still a direct free throw for France. Elohim Prandi converted it and saved the “Équipe Tricolore” into extra time, when the Swedes were running out of breath.