Handball: ÖHB men in World Cup qualification against Georgia, Olympic qualification fixed

This was the result of the draw on Saturday in Cologne. The winner of the two games, which will take place between May 8th and 12th, 2024, will win the ticket for the final round. If this good news isn’t enough, you can also look forward to a ticket for the Olympic qualification.

“We can be happy with this draw,” was team boss Ales Pajovic’s first reaction. Thanks to moving into the main round at the 2024 European Championship, it was clear early on that they would be drawn from draw pot 1 and thus escape strong nations such as Slovenia, Hungary, Portugal, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Poland and North Macedonia.

Georgia, which has home advantage in the first leg, took part in a major event for the first time at the European Championships in Germany, which ended on Sunday, and finished 18th out of 24 nations. With the 22:19 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, the debutant was able to celebrate a prestigious success. Austria came eighth thanks to strong performances and victories over Romania and Hungary and point wins against Croatia, Spain and Germany.

• Also read: More desire than frustration for Austria’s handball players after the European Championship exit?

Olympic qualification fixed

More good news came from Cairo. Because host Egypt became African champions with a 29:21 win over Algeria and thus has a guaranteed place at the Olympics, Austria can look forward to a starting place in the qualification for the games in Paris in the summer thanks to its 8th place in the European Championship. Twelve teams will fight for two tickets each in three groups of four between March 14th and 17th, for a total of six tickets. In Group 2, Austria will face the loser of the game for European Championship bronze between Germany and Sweden (Sunday), Croatia and Algeria.

If the Paris mission is successful, it would be the first participation of an Austrian men’s handball team in the Olympic Games since 1936. At that time, Austria took silver behind Germany – albeit in field handball. Indoor handball has been part of the games program since 1972. Austria’s women have already taken part in the Olympic Games three times. They came sixth in 1984 and fifth in 1992 and 2000.

“We are incredibly pleased that we are taking part in an Olympic qualification for the first time,” explained ÖHB sports director Patrick Fölser. “Everyone is enthusiastic, there is an incredible euphoria. We are in a difficult group in which Germany/Sweden and Croatia are the favorites, but as with the European Championships, we will do everything we can to finish the qualification in the top 2. “