Montenegro denied Slovenia the chance to finish second thanks to an outstanding performance from Jovanka Radicevic which stopped the visitors from securing the five-goal victory that they required to grab second place.
EHF EURO CUP
Montenegro vs Slovenia 34:30 (15:18)
- a perfect start from Alja Varagic, who scored four of her nine goals in the first 15 minutes, provided Slovenia with a 7:3 advance, though they were missing their Krim top stars Ana Gros and Tjasa Stanko
- Radicevic helped the hosts close to three goals at half-time, though they did not tie the score until 22:22.
- a Montenegrin 6:0 run from 20:22 to 26:20 in the middle of the second half turned the match around, and from then on the hosts’ defence stood much stronger
- the biggest intermediate gap was eight goals at 33:25, but as Montenegro slowed down, Slovenia managed to reduce the margin to four
Co-hosts excited to know their opponents
While co-hosts North Macedonia have already organised the Women’s EHF EURO 2008, joint hosts Slovenia and Montenegro will have their premiere as organisers in November.
Both Federations and hosting cities have huge experience as hosts of major events in younger age categories and this summer, Slovenia host the Women’s U20 World Championship, while Montenegro are organising the Men’s 18 EHF EURO.
On Thursday, both sides will know their Women’s EHF EURO 2022 opponents at the draw in Ljubljana - Montenegro seeded in pot 2, Slovenia in pot 3.