Austria’s handball players have added another chapter of success to their European Championship fairytale at the start of the main round. They beat Hungary by the narrowest of margins.
The Austrian fairy tale at the European Handball Championship continues. The outsider, the second German opponent in the fight for the semi-finals on Saturday, defeated Hungary at the start of the main round after a great fight 30:29 (17:17) and took the lead in Group I with 3:1 points.
Nikola Bilyk from THW Kiel was the best shooter for the Austrians with seven goals. The underdog completely surprisingly secured participation in the second phase of the tournament with a draw against former European champions Spain at the end of the preliminary round, the “Miracle of Mannheim” (Tiroler Tageszeitung). Now the next coup against the previously undefeated Hungarians.
“Enjoy every moment”
“We are igniting a huge euphoria in Austria. We as a team are having a lot of fun simply playing handball together. We are enjoying every moment we are currently experiencing here,” said Bilyk after the last-minute win on Thursday in Cologne. Looking ahead to the Germany game, he said: “We can hardly wait. It’s going to be really cool.”
Bence Banhidi, Gabor Ancsin, Miklos Rosta and Mate Lekai (4 goals each) scored most frequently for Hungary. Austria was initially behind, but didn’t allow themselves to be disconcerted by a four-goal deficit at 4:8 (11th). After the break, the Alpine handball players, with goalkeeper Constantin Möstl getting stronger and stronger, took the lead for the first time: Tobias Wagner scored to make it 23:22 (42nd) and heralded an exciting final phase.