Austria wins gold at London Handball Cup, beats Poland in final – Handball News
The London Handball Cup was held in London Olympic park at the Handball Arena, a recently constructed venue for handball competitions that would be held at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Six women’s national handball teams took
part in the handball tournament, which attracted scores of handball fans in the arena. The Austrian women’s handball team was placed in Group B with Angola and Great Britain. In Group A, however, Slovakia was placed along with Poland and China.
Women’s national handball team Austria had maintained their dominance in the London Handball Cup from their first match. The tournament began from November 23, 2011 but the Austrian team was seen in action from the second day of
the event. Austria faced Angola on November 24, 2011 and lost. The African side have had a decent run in the handball division and their win was considered as an upset win over the Austrians. On November 25, 2011, Austria met host team Great Britain. The hosts
were in the hope to beat Austria and increase their standings in the tournament.
The Austrian women’s national handball team were themselves looking to make an impact, which they certainly made. They beat hosts and favourites; team Great Britain 31-23. On November 26, 2011, China came in front of the Austrian
side but the Austrians were defiant in the tournament as they defeated the Chinese 29-26. On Sunday, November 27, 2011, the finals of the London Handball Cup were held with the gold medals match contested between Austria and Poland.
Both teams gave a good fight as the scores remained equal throughout the final. Team Poland was looking great with their momentum as they kept the Austrian team at bay. The Polish team was closing in to win the final, but the Austrian
team closed the London Handball Cup with a gold medal win. For the Austrian side, Beate Scheffknecht was the main player as she scored seven goals, giving her team a great victory.
Austrian goalkeeper, Petra Blazek, was also in top form as she had a 46% goal saving ratio. She was pleased with her performance and the teamwork her team had shown in the final match against Poland. She said, “This is a great
success for us especially as we are the youngest team here, some of our players still play in the Austrian youth league. It was great to win with the younger and older players working together so well.”
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