- The Swiss women’s national team starts the European Handball Championship at home with a victory.
- In the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, the Swiss won against the Faroe Islands 28:25 and thus their first final round game ever.
- After a temporary 10-goal lead, the hosts still have to tremble in the end.
A well-considered solo effort, a powerful shot and Switzerland was 27:24 and thus back in front with a 3-goal cushion. Daphne Gautschi, the top scorer in the Swiss team with a total of 8 goals, brought the hall to a boil just under a minute before the end. Seconds before, goalkeeper Lea Schüpbach made a perfect save. Thanks to these two actions, the Swiss victory was (still) practically assured.
The fact that things got even more exciting in front of the 4,670 fans in Basel – a record for a women’s game on Swiss soil – was also due to the Swiss women’s sudden decline. In the 37th minute, national coach Knut Ove Joa’s team was still leading 19:9, but then Switzerland’s energy reserves seemed to be running low. In the meantime, the Fähringen women shortened the score to 24:25.
A final sprint ultimately brought the important opening victory. This means that Switzerland achieved its first complete success in its second final round participation. Tabea Schmid also played a large part in the triumph. The 21-year-old pivot confidently took on her role as team leader with 7 goals from 9 attempts.
5-goal run after a nervous start
The fans in the St. Jakobshalle had to wait a full four and a half minutes after the game started before the first goal was scored: Schmid ended the nervous start on both sides. The Swiss then made an early first run and went from 2:2 to 7:2.
By half time (13:7) the Joa team was able to slightly increase their lead. Overall, the debutantes from the Sheep Islands made too many mistakes. When they switched to a majority in the first period and took out the goalkeeper in the offensive game, they were caught conceding a goal three times from the throw-off point.
This is how it continues
Game 2 is already scheduled for the Swiss on Sunday. The opponent is co-favorites for the title Denmark (5:50 p.m. live on SRF info). The last group game against Croatia follows on Tuesday.
Swiss
