The 2006 EHF

European Women's Handball Championship The European Women's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national handball teams of Europe, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifyi ...

was held in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

from 7 to 17 December. It was won by

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

after beating

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

27–24 in the final match. This championship was also the European qualifying event for

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

, and Norway earned a spot at the 2008 Games for being the European champion. If Norway also becomes the 2007 World champion, the 2nd place team will qualify for the Olympics. In addition, the 1 or 2 (if Europe finishes in the top 2 continents at the world championship) best ranked teams in this championship, which are outside top 7 at the world championship, will participate at the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Venues

The European Championships will be held in the following cities: *

Skövde Skövde () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland, Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central Southern Sweden. Skövde is situated some 150 ...

, Skövde Arena (Preliminary Group A) *

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popul ...

Baltiska Hallen Baltiska Hallen (The Baltic Hall) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Stadionområdet area of Malmö, Sweden. It opened in 1964 in memory of the 50th anniversary of the Baltic Exhibition in 1914. The arena has a capacity of 4.000 people and ...

(Preliminary Group D) *

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Scandinavium (Preliminary Group B, Main Group 1) *

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

Hovet Hovet (formerly known as Johanneshovs Isstadion or, in English: Johanneshov Stadium) is an arena located in the Johanneshov district of Stockholm ( Stockholm Globe City) which is mainly used for ice hockey, concerts and corporate events. It was o ...

(Preliminary Group C, Main Group 2, Final Round)

Qualification

Note: Bold indicates champion for that year. ''Italic'' indicates host for that year.

Draw

The draw was held on 6 July 2006 in Göteborg,

Competition Format

*Preliminary Round: 16 teams are divided into four groups. They play each other in a single round robin system, so each team plays three matches. A win is worth two points, while a draw is worth one point. The top three teams from each group advance to the Main Round. *Main Round: 12 teams are divided in two groups. They play against the teams they didn't play in the Preliminary Round, so each team plays 3 matches. All points from the Preliminary Round, except the points gained against the 4th place team in the preliminary group, are carried forward into the Main Round. Same round robin rules apply as in the Preliminary Round. Top 2 teams from each group advance to the Semifinals, while the third placed team from each group advances to the 5th-6th Place Play-off. *Final Round: 6 teams play in the final weekend of the championships. 3rd place teams from the Main Round play in the 5th-6th Place Play-off. Other teams play in the semifinals. Losers of the semifinals advance to the 3rd-4th Place Play-off, and winners advance to the Final.

Squads

Preliminary round

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Main round

Group I

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Group II

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Knockout stage

Bracket

Fifth place game

Semifinals

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Third place game

Final

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

All-Star team

*Goalkeeper: *Left wing: *Left back: *Pivot: *Centre back: *Right back: *Right wing: *Best defense player: *

Most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a partic ...

: Source
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Top goalscorers

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Top goalkeepers

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References

External links

Official website
{{European Handball Championship European Women's Handball Championship International handball competitions hosted by Sweden 2006 in Swedish women's sport Women's handball in Sweden

December 2006 sports events in Europe International sports competitions in Stockholm International sports competitions in Malmö International sports competitions in Gothenburg Sports competitions in Skövde 2000s in Stockholm 2000s in Gothenburg 2000s in Malmö