Group A – Palace of Culture and Sport, Veliko Tarnovo
Ireland – Turkey 26:41 (14:18)
Turkey without problems on quarterfinals
Turkey's team consolidated their leadership in Group A at the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship after their third consecutive win in the tournament - 41:26 over Ireland.
With a total of 6 points, the Turks qualified for the quarterfinals and will face the second team of Group B.
The coach of Turkey gave a chance to a part of his spare competitors and the match in the Palace of Culture and Sports in Veliko Tarnovo went on to the end of the first part. Then, with a strong series the "Reds" took off with a 4-goal advance - 18:14. The strong series of Turks continued in the second half and after a series of 4 consecutive goals led with 23:16. The Irish showed a spirit and did not surrender to the end, but victory remained for Turkey.
Before the last match in the Kosovo - Albania group, the Irish have a 2-point asset.
Ilker Senturk, head coach of Turkey: "I am very pleased with this match. We took another step towards our goal - one of the first three places in the tournament. In the quarterfinals we will probably play with Georgia. They are a good team, but we are a good team too. We hope to make a good game".
Durmus Ali Tinkir, right back of Turkey: "Maybe it was an easy match for us, good too. At first it was equal, but then they were tired and we had a lead. We are pleased with the outcome. The next games will be more and more difficult, but we are well prepared and will do our best".
Roman Abramenko, head coach of Ireland: "I want to thank the Turkish team for the great game and my team. I admire my boys. This is probably the best team I've ever seen with regard to the spirit. They fought to the end. The result is in the hands of the Lord, but the efforts are in our hands and I am very proud of it. I think the favorite for the title here in Bulgaria is the Faroe Islands team, but Kosovo and Turkey also have very good teams".
Thomas Krohn Grace, pivot of Ireland: "We knew it was going to be a very tough game, but we got into it with high raised heads. We tried to do everything from us and play good handball. I think it did. I'm happy with our overall tournament presentation".
Kosovo– Albania 44:17 (20:8)
Kosovo finished second in Group A
The Kosovo team ended in second place in Group A of the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship. The team qualified without any problems for the quarterfinals after a second straight success - over Albania with 44:17 (20:8).
With a 4-point asset, Kosovo took second place and in the next phase will face the winner of Group B - most likely the Luxembourg team. The quarterfinals will be on Friday at 20.00 in the Palace of Culture and Sports "Vasil Levski" in Veliko Tarnovo. The Albanians ended the group phase without a point asset and would continue the battle for the places between 9th to 16th.
The experienced team of Kosovo had no particular problems in the match, as the team coach allowed himself to rest on part of his main player. This did not affect the game of the team and the rest was 20: 8 in their favor. In the second part the events on the pitch did not change and the Kosovars deserved to win.
Taip Ramadani, head coach of Kosovo: "I am very pleased with the victory. We tried this match to test different attack and defense options to be prepared for the match with Luxembourg. This will be a key match for us because we want to get to the final and to do so we have to play a very good match against Luxembourg".
Valon Dedaj, center back of Kosovo: "We did not start this game well, but with each passing minute we got better and in the end the difference became big. I think our next game will be very heavy. This is likely to be Luxemburg, a very serious team. We have to play a very good game to defeat them".
Lulzim Ismayli, head coach of Albania: "I am very pleased with my team. I want to thank the Kosovo team. With them we are brothers, no matter that we now represent Albania, and they are Kosovo. Our roots are fraternal, and this match was fraternal. They are, of course, much ahead of us in their development, but I hope they will also help us develop handball in Albania".
Odisea Kasa, right back of Albania: "With Kosovo we are like brothers and this game helped us a lot. We played a good game. Yes, they are better than us and I want to congratulate their teammates as well as the boys from Kosovo. Perhaps they will win the tournament, why not? Our participation here in Bulgaria is a valuable experience for us".
Group B – Palace of Culture and Sport, Veliko Tarnovo
Great Britain– Luxembourg 30:37 (11:20)
3 out of 3 for Luxembourg
Luxembourg won and their third game in Group B ofthe IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship - 37:30 (20:11) over the Great Britain. Thus the team from small country will play in the quarterfinals against Kosovo, which finished second in Group A.
Luxembourg has controlled the game from the start of the match, starting with a 5:0. On the half-time, the lead of the team was increased to 9 hits - 20:11. After that, the events of the parquet in the Palace of Culture and Sports "Vasil Levski" in Veliko Tarnovo remained unchanged and with a convincing game Luxembourg won its third victory. The Great Britain remained with 2 points and will finish third in the group. The islanders will argue for the distribution of places from 9th to 16th, with the first rival of the team being Albania.
The leader of Luxembourg Thomas Muller finished with 9 goals and was chosen as the best player of his team, while Tom Krier added 6 goals. For the British Ryan Goodwin scored 10 goals.
Tomorrow is a rest day on the tournament, and on Friday the battles continue in the elimination phase.
Adrian Stot, head coach of Luxembourg: "We have achieved our first goal of winning the band. Now we have to concentrate on the quarterfinals, because this game will be heavy and the most important for us in this tournament. We will have one day to recover, we will be preparing for this match in the training tomorrow. Kosovo is a very good team and what has more of us is the team spirit. They are fighters, and if you give them the ball they will not hesitate. We have to prepare well for this game".
Thomas Muller, center back of Luxembourg: "Of course, we are pleased that we won our first three games. It was our first step. Now we think about the quarterfinals. We will play against a very serious team - that of Kosovo. Tomorrow we will rest, but of course we want to win and play in the semi-finals. Kosovo has a great team, very equal players, play fast handball, and they are good at defending. Complex team are, but we will analyze their weaknesses and try to take advantage. In this match there will be no favorite".
Ricardo Vasconcelos, head coach of Great Britain: "We started slowly, the first 15 minutes were extremely weak for us. We missed many positions, and their goalkeeper made some great rescues. After 15 minutes, we started playing our handball. Still, we played against a team that was very classy and was one of the contenders for the title. I am happy to see progress in our game. There is a match with Albania, also a progressive team. I hope we can imagine and win".
Ryan Goodwin, center back of Great Britain: "We did not play very well in the first half but the second was great for us. We have scored more goals from Luxembourg in the second half, which is a big step for us because they are on a different level from us. However, we tried to narrow the gap and somehow succeeded. Now we hope to play another such match against Albania and win".
Georgia – Malta 28:20 (19:9)
Georgia secured a place in the quarterfinals
Georgia is the last quarterfinals of the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship, after having clearly defeated the team of Malta with 28:20 (19:9) in a match of Group B of the tournament.
The Georgians beat the win in the first half, then led with 10 goals difference - 19:9. After the half-time they continued to play at the level and deservedly succeeded.
In the next phase, Georgia will face the winner in Group A Turkey, which has won three consecutive wins. Malta will meet the Ireland in the 9th to 16th placement matches. The duels are on Friday, tomorrow is a rest day at the championship
Andriy Portnoy, coach of Georgia: "I'm happy with the victory. We played with the second team and we did well in defense. We dropped some positions, but we did our job in a positional assault. We ran some combinations. We have retained the strength of some of our players and set ourselves to victory against Turkey".
Joseph Attard, head coach of Malta: "Unfortunately, we started very poorly. I am delighted that in the second half I gave some players a break for the next matches and their substitutes did very well with very good attitude. I am pleased with our performance during the second half. I expect to play aggressively against Ireland and play a bit more calmly in the attack. Let's make fewer errors in technical terms. Ireland is a good team and we expect a heavy game".
Group C – Orlovetz Sports Hall, Gabrovo
Bulgaria –Andorra 38:16 (19:6)
Bulgaria with an expected win over Andorra
Bulgaria's national team defeated outsider Andorra with 38:16 (19:6) in their last match from Group C at the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship. Bulgarians control over the game from the beginning to the end and the result was all the time. The first half ended with a 19:6 for Bulgaria, and in the second half the gap grew to 22 goals for the final 38:16.
For the most valuable player in the team of Bulgaria was Svetlin Dimitrov, who finished with 17 goals for the win. For the best player in team of Andorra was named Alex Toha, who scored 3 goals.
Top scorers for Bulgaria: Stefan Evtimov 3, Zlatan Petrov 1, Rosen Y. Kolev 3, Svetlin Dimitrov 17, Tanser Yunsu 2, Branimir Balchev 4, Dhoskun Yakubov 8
Head coach: Georgi Andreev.
David Aguilar, head coach of Andorra: "Bulgaria is a very good team and deserves us to win. I wish them success in the next games. I did not want to disturb the time-out game in the last second. I was entitled to this interruption and asked for it shortly before, but the referee decided to stop the game at 29:59 minutes. We will draw our conclusions and hope the next international tournament will look different".
Galin Naydenov, pivot of Bulgaria: "The coach told us to play freely and without worry, but in no case underestimate Andorra. We have a good game and now we are waiting to see who we are going to play against the ¼-finals - whether it will be Faroe Islands or China".
Georgi Andreev, head coach of Bulgaria: "I did not give instructions to win with a difference, it just did. I shared the argument to play for the audience and without any worries. I gave the opportunity to almost all handball players to take part, and I kept some to rest. We continue our plan and look forward to ¼-final in Friday".
Azerbaijan – Cyprus 32:28 (18:13)
Cyprus finished without loss in Group C
The Cypriot team ended without a loss in Group C of the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship , having overtaken Azerbaijan with 32:28 (18:13) in the last match of the group.
The first half started equally and with a lot of struggle. Gradually, Cyprus set its pace and retreated to the break with a lead of 18:13. In the first minutes of the second part, the Azeris started strongly in the attack and reduced the gap to 17:19. Cyprus, however, managed to keep their lead in order to congratulate the victory after 32:28.
Thus, Cyprus finished first in the group with 6 points (3 wins in 3 games) and will play at the ¼-finals of the tournament against the second team of Group D - China. Azerbaijan finished third with 2 points (1 win and 2 losses) and will continue the fight for the 9th to 16th places.
The most valuable player from Cyprus was declared Julios Argirou, who finished 14 goals. For Azerbaijan the best player was Maksim Butenko, who made 8 hits.
Kostakis Orfanou, head coach of Cyprus: "Very tough game. They have very good players who are well prepared physically. I'm very happy with the victory and I respect the rival".
Hikmet Abdullayev, head coach of Azerbaijan: "It became a hard match. Everything was fine. We respect the rival and wish them good luck".
Group D – Orlovetz Sports Hall, Gabrovo
Moldova – China 22:29 (11:15)
China beat Moldova and finished second in Group D
The national team of R.P. of China achieved its second victory in the last match of Group D, prevailing over Moldova with 29:22 (15:11). The match started in equal measure, and in the final minutes of the first part, China scored two hits at 15:11, with the result both teams retiring on the half-time. In the second half the Moldavians made many mistakes and from pure attack situations failed to survive the door. The game of China definitely went well and was very effective, especially the counterattack.
Before the last match in the group between the Faroe Islands and Armenia, China is in second place with 4 points (2 wins and 1 loss) and Moldova is third with 2 points (1 win and 2 losses).
Zheng He, who finished with 7 goals, was chosen as the most valuable player from the team of China. From the team of Moldova Pavel Macovchin, who scored 4 goals, was chosen for the best player, but Roman Zacaciurin was top scorer with 7 goals.
Qiao Chen, head coach of China: "Three games are playing better. Today, we performed great. We hope to continue this way. We are in second place in the group and we are expecting the ¼-final winner of the group, which is the team of Bulgaria. With whom we play, we must win to continue".
Zheng Liu, left back of China: "It's a very good match. We are pleased with the success and expect our next rival on Friday".
Nicolae Vizitiu, head coach of Moldova: "Mistakes. We made a lot of mistakes. We created situations for a goal but we missed a lot. We are to blame for the loss. In any case, we were not weaker than China, but it is often the handball that makes more mistakes losing".
Pavel Macovchin, right back of Moldova: "It is hard to lose after so many mistakes. As they say, "We have won ourselves". I wish China success in the fight for prizes place".
Faroe Islands –Armenia 44:6 (18:1)
The Faroe Islands defeated Armenia in their last game from Group D
The Faroe Islands team ended up winning the group stage of the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship. The Faroe Islands managed to defeat outsider Armenia with 44: 6 (18:1) in the last game in Group D, played in "Orlovetz Sports Hall" in Gabrovo. There was no intrigue at the meeting, with the first half finished at 18:1 for the Faroese, and in the second half the gap grew to 44:6.
Faroe Islands became the winners in the group with 6 points (3 wins in 3 games), and Armenia finished in the last place without a single point (0 wins in 3 games). In the ¼-finals the Faroe Islands will play against second team in Group C, which will become clear later this evening.
Hogni Klein Olsen, who finished 8 goals, was chosen as the most valuable player for the Faroe Islands. For the Armenian team goalkeeper Manukyan Hajkaz was determined to be the best and the best scorer was Sargsyan Rafik with 3 goals.
Ari Rouch, head coach of the Faroe Islands: "I gave a chance to all players. We played so that we used different tactical combinations. We also tested variants of the counterattack. We finished without loss in the group, which was our goal".
Hogni Klein Olsen, left wing of the Faroe Islands: "We played disciplined and followed all coaching guidelines. The result showed it".
Margaryan Hrachik, center back of Armenia: "The difference between the two teams is very big. There is nothing more to comment on".