European Championship qualification

ÖHB men celebrate must-win against Turkey

Nevertheless, Austria will have to improve against Switzerland.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Austria's men's national handball team has secured the expected home win against Turkey at the start of the European Championship qualifiers. The regular guest at the European Championships in recent years won 31:28 (17:13) in Bregenz on Thursday. Coach Ales Pajovic's team showed room for improvement. The ÖHB team will continue on Sunday in Schaffhausen (4 p.m.) against Switzerland, who are also represented at the upcoming World Championship. The third opponent in the group is favorite Germany.

Mykola Bilyk and Co. started as hoped in their first match against Turkey in 18 years: The home side were quickly 5:1 ahead in front of 2,000 spectators. In the meantime, however, one or two gaps opened up in the defense. The Turks exploited the Austrians' coordination problems and kept closing the gap to three goals. The score was 17:13 going into the break. Sebastian Frimmel, who had already scored six goals at the break, said on ORF: "We had great phases, but also a bit of chaos. We have to put that right for the game on Sunday."

The Turks remained uncomfortable at the start of the second 30 minutes, with Constantin Möstl making important saves. However, Bilyk kept his team on course with three goals. The Austrians, who have represented Austria at four European Championship finals since 2018, went on to secure the two points, even if the gap was narrow at the end. Möstl had to come off shortly before the end after being hit in the eye. However, this should not be a problem for Sunday, said the goalkeeper.

Now Switzerland awaits
Frimmel finished the game with seven goals, while Bilyk scored six times. Janko Bozovic (39), who played against Turkey in 2006, scored five goals. "We don't manage to play consistently over 60 minutes. That annoys me a bit," said backcourt player Lukas Hutecek about the performance. Pajovic spoke of a must-win. "I'm satisfied. We didn't do a few things perfectly, but we said we needed the two points," said the Slovenian.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The stronger Swiss will probably be a tougher opponent in Schaffhausen. Olympic silver medallists Germany will not face Austria until after the World Championships (from 14 January) in the qualifying doubles in March 2025.