STA, January 25, 2018 - Slovenia played a 26:26 draw with the Czech Republic in their final match of the main round of the European Handball Championship in Varaždin on Wednesday to bid farewell from the tournament. Slovenia failed to secure at least the third spot in Group II which brings an additional match for the fifth place.
Slovenia opened the main round last Friday by losing to Olympic champions Denmark 28:31, but bounced back yesterday by defeating Spain 31:26 to keep slight chances of making it to the semi-finals.
But the Czechs, the main surprise of the tournament in Croatia, proved to be a tough opponent, which Slovenia failed to break in the first half (11:12), mostly owing to unbelievable saves by the Czech goalie.
The teams entered the last minute with the score equalled at 26:26, and the Czechs even had the opportunity score a winning goal in the waning seconds, but the shot from the 6-metre line bounced off the goal post.
It was a frustrating tournament for Slovenia, which put themselves in the spotlight after threatening to leave the tournament due to bad refereeing in the games against Macedonia and Germany in the preliminary round.
Slovenia had challenged the result of the Germany fixture at the European Handball Federation, but its appeals were thrown out.
