The 2008 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 qualifyin ...
was held in the
Republic of Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
from 2–14 December, it was won by
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Jan Mayen and the ...
after beating
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
34–21 in the final match.
Venues
Two Macedonian cities have been selected as hosts for the 2008 Championship:
Qualification
In total, 16 national teams qualified for the final tournament:
;Host Country
# (3) :1998,2000,2006
;Qualified from the
2006 European Championship
# (7) :1994,1996,1998,2000,2002,2004,2006 (''Defending Champions'')
# (7) :1994,1996,1998,2000,2002,2004,2006
# (4) :2000,2002,2004,2006
# (7) :1994,1996,1998,2000,2002,2004,2006
# (7) :1994,1996,1998,2000,2002,2004,2006
;Qualified from play-offs:
Squads
Each nation had to submit an initial squad of 28 players, 12 of them became reserves when the final squad of 16 players was announced on 1 December 2008.
Seeding
The draw for the preliminary round groups took place on 20 July 2008, in
Ohrid
Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...
.
Format
*
Preliminary Round
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
: 16 teams are divided into four groups. They play each other in a single
round robin
Round-robin may refer to:
Computing
* Round-robin DNS, a technique for dealing with redundant Internet Protocol service hosts
* Round-robin networks, communications networks made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology
* Round-robin schedu ...
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
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
: 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
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
: 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.
Preliminary round
''All times are local (
UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:
*Central European Time
*West Africa Time
*Western European Summer Time
**B ...
).''
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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Final round
Bracket
Fifth place game
Semifinals
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Third place game
Final
Ranking and Statistics
Final ranking
Source
EuroHandball.com
/small>
All-Star Team
*Goalkeeper:
*Left wing:
*Left back:
*Pivot:
*Centre back:
*Right back:
*Right wing:
*Best defence player:
*
Most valuable player:
Chosen by team officials and EHF experts
EHF-Euro.com
/small>
Top goalscorers
Source
EHF
/small>
Top goalkeepers
''(minimum 20% of total shots received by team)''
Source
/small>
Notes
External links
European Handball Federation8th Women's Handball European Championship 2008 in the Republic of Macedonia
{{European Handball Championship
European Women's Handball Championship
E
E
International handball competitions hosted by North Macedonia
Women's handball in North Macedonia
December 2008 sports events in Europe
2000s in Skopje
Sports competitions in Skopje
Sport in Ohrid