The Swiss women's national team has made a successful start to the European Handball Championship. Coach Knut Ove Joa's team beat the Faroe Islands 28:25 in Basel.
This is only the second time ever that the Swiss women have taken part in the European Championship. Since they "only" managed a draw in the preliminary round two years ago, the victory in front of 4670 spectators was a first.
It took until the 5th minute before the favored locals scored the first goal of the game. After 2:2 (9th), the Swiss pulled away to 7:2 (18th). They led 13:7 at the end of the first half, although their success rate in attack was just 43 percent.
After the break, the hosts pulled away to 19:9 (37'), but then lost a lot of ground and had to tremble for victory. In the 58th minute, they were only 25:24 ahead. However, they held their nerve. The last three goals were scored by Daphne Gautschi, who was the game's most successful scorer with a total of eight goals. Tabea Schmid scored seven times.
In the second preliminary round match on Sunday, the Swiss will face Olympic bronze medallists Denmark. They will have to defend as well for 60 minutes as they did at the start and improve in offense to have a chance.
SDA
