Photo courtesy telegraph.co.uk
• Men’s draw sees hosts Great Britain drawn in the same group as France, Sweden, Iceland, Argentina and Tunisia
• Women’s draw sees Great Britain drawn in the same group as Montenegro, Russia, Croatia, Brazil and Angola
• The reigning men’s Olympic champions France take on Iceland, Sweden, Tunisia, Argentina and Great Britain
• The reigning women’s Olympic champions Norway take on Korea, Sweden, France, Denmark and Spain
The International Handball Federation yesterday conducted the draw for the London 2012 Handball tournament, confirming matches for the Men’s and Women’s preliminary competition.
The draw produced some interesting matches including for the men: Serbia vs Croatia in Group B. Serbia and Denmark will also go head to head in a repeat of their recent match at the European Championship final where Denmark won, while France will meet Iceland in a repeat of the 2008 final where France beat Iceland.
From the Women’s draw, Great Britain are grouped with Angola in a repeat of the Test Event earlier this year where Great Britain won. Also in the Women’s draw, Norway will meet France which is a repeat of the Final of the World Championships in Brazil in December.
The Men’s and Women’s Olympic Handball tournament begins on the 28 July with 10 days of preliminary competition. The knockout matches start on 7 August, with the women’s medals awarded on 11 August, followed by the men’s the next day. All semi-finals and finals, as well as the men’s quarter-finals, will be held at the Basketball Arena in the Olympic Park. A total of 12 teams in both the men’s and women’s event will compete for gold in this dynamic team sport.
Today’s draw, held at Crystal Palace sports centre and hosted by the International Handball Federation, saw teams drawn into 2 groups for the Preliminary rounds of the Men’s and Women’s tournament. The confirmed draws for the group stages are:
Olympic Men’s tournament:
Group A France Sweden Iceland Great Britain Argentina Tunisia
Group B Spain Croatia Hungary Serbia Denmark Korea
Olympic Women’s tournament:
Group A Montenegro Russia Croatia Great Britain Brazil Angola
Group B Norway Spain Denmark France Sweden Korea
Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at LOCOG said: “This dynamic sport made a big impression during the test event in 2011, noticed for its speed and the skill of the players. Today’s draw has provided some excellent matches that will showcase this great sport during the Games in London this summer.”
International Handball Federation said: “Handball has constantly been one of the major sports in the Olympic Programme since 1972, which is a clear signal for the worldwide interest. Looking upon the numbers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, handball was among the top sports concerning TV figures. And looking upon the ticket sales for the 2012 Olympic Games in London it is impressive how fast the handball tournament was sold out. The promotion of handball has been tremendous in Great Britain. With full arenas and a huge TV coverage all over the world the 2012 London Olympic Games will be a huge step for the promotion of our sports, not only in Great Britain, but all over the world.”
Paul Goodwin, British Handball CEO, said: ‘Today is another momentous occasion for British Handball being the first time that we have ever been included in an Olympic draw . We have used the opportunity that London 2012 has provided to introduce this globally popular sport to the British public. I sincerely hope that our funding partners recognise the enormous gains that we have made and continue to support us going forward.’
Great Britain Women’s captain Lynne McCafferty, said: ‘The Olympic Games are very nearly upon us and being here at the draw has made it all feel very realistic. All the teams participating are fantastic, but it is a good draw for us and we are very happy.’
