Second game, second win: The German U21 handball players are practically certain of a place in the main round at the home World Cup.
The team of national coach Martin Heuberger won against Tunisia in Hanover by 46:31 (21:13) and would have to lose by a huge margin at the end of the preliminary round against Algeria on Friday (6:00 p.m. / Eurosport) to still be in the top two places in the group B to be able to be displaced.
Florian Kranzmann (GWD Minden) was the most successful thrower of the DHB selection in front of 3369 spectators with six goals. After the clear half-time lead, Heuberger rotated through. “I wouldn’t be a coach if I didn’t have anything to criticize,” said the coach afterwards: “Our technical mistakes bothered me in the early stages. But we played a decent game for long stretches, and there were no breaks even after the changes in the game.”
The selection of Heuberger, who had extended his contract until 2027 immediately before the tournament started on Tuesday, is considered the favorite for gold. It would be the third World Cup title for the German U21s after 2009 and 2011. The national coach has issued a medal as the official goal. Under Heuberger, the current German team has already won the U19 European Championship in 2021.
The top two teams in each preliminary group advance to the second stage of the tournament. The winners and runners-up of the four main round groups reach the final venue of Berlin. On Monday, Germany started the tournament with an easy 35:14 (18:4) against outsiders Libya.