Handball: Poland loses qualifier to Belarus
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
05.05.2017 09:45
Poland's national handball team has lost 23:32 (10:15) to Belarus in its third European Championships qualifier, having already lost to Serbia and Romania.
Uladzislau Kulesh of Belarus, Michał Daszek of Poland and Maksim Babichev of Belarus. Photo: EPA/Tatyana Zenkovich.
Following the game in Minsk on Thursday, the Polish team now has only a slim shot at qualifying for the competition, according to the PAP news agency.
The Belarusian team started strong, taking an early 4:1 lead.
Poland managed to fight back, and the teams went head to head to an 8:8 result before Belarus dominated again with a five-point lead at the end of the first half.
During the second half, the Belarusian team dominated with quick, on-point shots and was 10 points in front with 10 minutes to the final whistle.
Poland is the only team in its qualifying group which is yet to score any points. It lost at home to Serbia 32:37, and away to Romania 23:28.
Only the top two teams in the group will go to the championships in Croatia.
The last time Poland did not qualify for the biannual competition was in 2000, when the event was also hosted by Croatia. (vb/pk)
Source: PAP