2012 European Women's Handball Championship
The 2012 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Serbia from 4 to 16 December.
Originally the tournament was scheduled to be held in the Netherlands but on 4 June 2012 the Dutch Handball Federation withdrew from the organization. Subsequently, the European Handball Federation (EHF) launched a new bidding process and eventually selected Serbia as the new host on 18 June 2012.
 EHF Euro 2012 official logo | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Serbia |
| Venue(s) | 5 (in 4 host cities) |
| Dates | 4–16 December |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Montenegro (1st title) |
| Runner-up |  Norway |
| Third place |  Hungary |
| Fourth place | Serbia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 47 |
| Goals scored | 2,381 (50.66 per match) |
| Attendance | 122,604 (2,609 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Katarina Bulatović (MNE) (56 goals) |
| Best player | Anja Edin (NOR) |
Montenegro captured their first title by defeating defending champion Norway 34–31 in the final.
Host selection
Initially on its meeting on 27 September 2008 the EHF awarded the championship to the Netherlands, defeating Ukraine in the second round of voting while Germany and Serbia withdrew their candidacy during the congress. This could have been the second time for Netherlands to host the tournament, however, on 4 June 2012 the Dutch Handball Federation announced they are unable to organize the European Championship. A day later the EHF re-launched the host selection process; ten nations had shown interest in organizing the competition, including Croatia, Denmark, Iceland, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Sweden. Romania added their interest the day after. On 18 June 2012 the EHF granted the organizational rights to Serbia and also disposed of the fate of the Dutch national team. Since Serbia, the new host already qualified for the European Championship, the place reserved for the host nation was passed to Iceland as the best non-qualified team and the Netherlands were pulled out from the tournament.
Venues
Five venues in four cities had been selected to host the matches:
| Group stage |
 Belgrade Niš Novi Sad Vršac | |
|---|---|---|
| Vršac | Niš | |
| Millennium Center Capacity: 4,000 | Čair Sports Center Capacity: 5,000 | |
 |  | |
| Group&Knockout stage | Knockout stage | |
| Novi Sad | Belgrade | |
| Spens Sports Center Capacity: 11,500 | Kombank Arena Capacity: 23,000 | |
 |  | |
| City | Arena | Capacity | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgrade | Kombank Arena | 20,000 | Group A, Main Round, Semifinals and Finals |
| Novi Sad | Spens Arena | 8,000 | Group C, Main Round |
| Vršac | Millennium Centar | 4,058 | Group D |
| Niš | Čair Sports Center | 4,000 | Group B |
Qualification
Qualification matches were played from September 2011 to June 2012. Following the new system introduced for the 2010 Men's Championship, all teams were included in the qualification round, except Netherlands who were hosts before the withdrawal. Teams were divided in 7 groups and the two top ranked teams from each group qualified.
Qualified teams
| Country | Qualified as | Date qualification was secured | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | Defending champion | 19 December 2010 | 9 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Croatia | Winner of group 6 | 24 March 2012 | 6 (1994, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Czech Republic | Runner-up of group 5 | 25 March 2012 | 3 (1994, 2002, 2004) |
 Sweden | Winner of group 5 | 25 March 2012 | 7 (1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Germany | Winner of group 1 | 30 May 2012 | 9 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
| Hungary | Runner-up of group 1 | 30 May 2012 | 9 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Romania | Winner of group 2 | 30 May 2012 | 8 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010) |
| Serbia | Runner-up of group 2 | 30 May 2012 | 2 ( 2008, 2010) |
 France | Winner of group 4 | 30 May 2012 | 6 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Denmark | Runner-up of group 6 | 2 June 2012 | 9 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Spain | Runner-up of group 7 | 2 June 2012 | 6 (1998, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Ukraine | Winner of group 7 | 3 June 2012 | 9 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Macedonia | Runner-up of group 4 | 3 June 2012 | 4 (1998, 2000, 2006, 2008) |
| Montenegro | Winner of group 3 | 3 June 2012 | 1 (2010) |
 Russia | Runner-up of group 3 | 3 June 2012 | 9 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
 Iceland | Awarded final place | 18 June 2012 | 1 (2010) |
- 1 Bold indicates champion for that year.
Squads
Referees
12 referee pairs were selected:
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Seeding
The draw was scheduled to be held on 6 June 2012 at 14:00 local time in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The draw procedure was announced on 15 May. It was canceled because of the withdrawal of the Dutch Handball Federation. The draw was rescheduled to 22 June 2012 in Monaco. The pots were new assigned due to the removal of the Netherlands and the addition of Iceland.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
Preliminary round
The draw was held on 22 June 2012. The playing schedule was released on 13 July.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 62 | +5 | 6 | Main round |
| 2 | Serbia (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 75 | +4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 68 | 71 | −3 | 2 | |
| 4 | Ukraine | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 68 | −6 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
| 4 December 2012 17:45 | Ukraine | 22–25 | Czech Republic | Kombank Arena, Belgrade Attendance: 450 Referees: Brehmer, Skowronek (POL) |
| Borshchenko 7 | (7–12) | Štěrbová, Luzumová 6 | ||
4× 6× | Report | 3× 2× |
| 4 December 2012 20:15 | Norway | 28–26 | Serbia | Kombank Arena, Belgrade Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Marín, García (ESP) |
| Riegelhuth Koren 8 | (17–12) | Ognjenović 9 | ||
3× 4× 1× | Report | 4× 6× |
| 6 December 2012 18:15 | Serbia | 25–23 | Ukraine | Kombank Arena, Belgrade Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Florescu, Duţă (ROU) |
| Popović, Damnjanović 5 | (14–10) | Managarova 7 | ||
| 4× 3× | Report | 4× 7× |
| 6 December 2012 20:15 | Czech Republic | 19–21 | Norway | Kombank Arena, Belgrade Attendance: 450 Referees: Crnojević, Kostecki-Radić (CRO) |
| Poznarová 5 | (12–10) | Sulland 8 | ||
| 4× 4× | Report | 3× 3× |
| 8 December 2012 18:15 | Norway | 18–17 | Ukraine | Kombank Arena, Belgrade Attendance: 1,554 Referees: Stoļarovs, Līcis (LAT) |
| Sulland 6 | (8–11) | Glibko, Borshchenko 4 | ||
| 3× 3× | Report | 2× 9× 1× |
| 8 December 2012 20:15 | Serbia | 28–24 | Czech Republic | Kombank Arena, Belgrade Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Horvárth, Márton (HUN) |
| Lekić, Pop-Lazić 6 | (12–15) | Černá, Chrenková 6 | ||
| 3× 6× | Report | 3× 3× |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 61 | +19 | 4 | Main round |
| 2 | Denmark | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 91 | 84 | +7 | 4 | |
| 3 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 65 | +5 | 4 | |
| 4 | Macedonia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 61 | 92 | −31 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Notes:
| 4 December 2012 18:15 | France | 29–16 | Macedonia | Čair Sports Center, Niš Attendance: 750 Referees: Horvárth, Márton (HUN) |
| Baudouin 8 | (15–10) | Portjanko 6 | ||
| 3× 2× | Report | 2× 2× |
| 4 December 2012 20:15 | Sweden | 27–26 | Denmark | Čair Sports Center, Niš Attendance: 300 Referees: Florescu, Duţă (ROU) |
| Ahlm 10 | (13–15) | Jørgensen 6 | ||
| 1× 1× | Report | 3× 4× |
| 6 December 2012 18:15 | Macedonia | 15–26 | Sweden | Čair Sports Center, Niš Attendance: 300 Referees: Stoļarovs, Līcis (LAT) |
| Bajramoska 4 | (8–11) | Torstenson 8 | ||
| 2× 2× | Report | 2× 1× |
| 6 December 2012 20:15 | Denmark | 28–27 | France | Čair Sports Center, Niš Attendance: 200 Referees: Brehmer, Skowronek (POL) |
| Nørgaard, Burgaard 7 | (15–12) | Baudouin, Njitam 5 | ||
| 2× 2× | Report | 3× 1× |
| 8 December 2012 18:15 | Sweden | 17–24 | France | Čair Sports Center, Niš Attendance: 500 Referees: Crnojević, Kostecki-Radić (CRO) |
| Torstenson 5 | (8–13) | Signaté, Mendy 4 | ||
| 2× 1× | Report | 4× 2× |
| 8 December 2012 20:15 | Denmark | 37–30 | Macedonia | Čair Sports Center, Niš Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Marín, García (ESP) |
| Augustesen 8 | (17–13) | Crvenkoska, Portjanko 7 | ||
| 3× 4× | Report | 3× 3× |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hungary | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 83 | 80 | +3 | 4 | Main round |
| 2 | Spain | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 73 | +6 | 4 | |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 63 | −5 | 2 | |
| 4 | Croatia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 65 | 69 | −4 | 2 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Notes:
