Tbilisi to host U18 European Handball Championship

On August 10, at exactly 17:00, U18 European Handball Championship will officially open at Tbilisi Olympic Palace venue, where 11 teams from across the continent will face each other, with the competition launching with a match between the hosts and Finland. The match will start at 17:30. Additionally, the group features Belarus, Italy and Greece, with two winners of the group set to advance to the semifinals.

A similar tournament is held in the city of Tulln, Austria. The winners of these to competitions will be eligible to play in the elite 16 teams at the 2020 U20 European Championship. The coach of the youth team has been Tite Kalandadze, for several years, with his irreplaceable assistant Giorgi Sakhvadze, however, over the course of the preparatory period, the coaching platform has a new staff added to its roaster – Sergo Datukishvili. Additionally, the goalkeepers coach is the legendary Georgian veteran – Amiran Komakhidze.

The U18 national team has been intensively preparing for the most important tournament over the last three months. The last boot camp was attended by 19 players from seven Georgian and two foreign clubs. The first among them, is a famous Georgian champion – Giorgi Tskhovrebadze, who is the winner of the Champions league, currently playing in Montpellier, France. Tskhovrebadze has already played in the national team. The second amongst them, is a German born – Kakha Chaduneli, who currently plays in Bundesliga. Having the luxury to choose from these 19 players, coaches will choose 16 players in the initial application, reserving the permission over the course of the championship to have two substitution available.

Georgian national team will start all the remaining matches at 17:00. On August 11, the team will face Belarus, 13 August - Greece, and on 14 August – Italy, respectively. All games will start at 11 o’clock at the Olympic Palace. It is important to note, that the final will be held next week, on August 19.

Pool A: Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Macedon, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxemburg.

Pool B: Belarus, Italy, Finland, Greece, Georgia.

The championship official website:  http://www.2018tbilisi.com/ka

Please tune in for the official live streaming: YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/handballgoergia 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GEONHF/

Also:https://www.ehftv.com/int/