ÖHB women rejoice

Sovereign victory also in second test match

Austria's handball women rejoice

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Austria's women's handball team also won the second game of the test double against North Macedonia. One day after the 31:25 victory, Red-White-Red won again on Sunday in Bregenz with 34:21 (15:9). 

With the second victory in the era of team boss Monique Tijsterman, Sonja Frey and Co. gained further self-confidence ahead of the home European Championships starting at the end of November. In contrast to the previous day, Austria put in a consistent performance in the first half, with the exception of a brief phase, and the 8:2 lead after ten minutes was a clear indicator for the rest of the game. North Macedonia, who will represent Austria at the upcoming European Championships, came as close as four goals (11:7/21st), but otherwise had no more to play for. The hosts remained focused and extended their lead to an impressive 13 goals by the end.

"Made a very big step"
"There's always room for improvement, but we can be very satisfied. We've had a good week," said Tijsterman after her second win with Austria. "We were also clearly physically superior to North Macedonia. We are really, really strong there." Ana Pandza was also impressed. "We took a very big step," said the ÖHB's top scorer with five goals.

The team will meet again in October, when they will play the three-nation tournament against the Czech Republic (25th) and Ukraine (26th) in Tulln. Four days before the start of the European Championships, they will then face Germany. Their opponents at the European Championships in Innsbruck from November 28 will be Slovakia, defending champions Norway and Slovenia. Advancement and at least second place are the clear goals.