European Handball Federation | Men’s Challenge Trophy 2003

Final Standings

PlaceCountryPWDLFAPts
1Moldova65012238510
2Azerbaijan650117910410
3Great Britain64021141348
4Malta62041071584
5Liechtenstein62041261604
6Ireland6006841880

Reference: Compiled from Results & Table in [1]

Group A Results

DateTimeTeam 1Team 2
17.12.200315:00Azerbaijan32Liechtenstein16
17.12.200317:00Great Britain9Moldova38
17.12.200320:00Malta25Ireland14
18.12.200309:00Azerbaijan29Great Britain14
18.12.200311:00Liechtenstein17Malta20
18.12.200313:00Ireland6Moldova47
18.12.200317:00Liechtenstein23Great Britain27
18.12.200319:00Moldova46Malta13
18.12.200321:00Ireland10Azerbaijan36
19.12.200315:00Azerbaijan20Moldova19
19.12.200317:00Liechtenstein23Ireland22
19.12.200319:00Great Britain19Malta16
20.12.200313:00Great Britain26Ireland12
20.12.200315:00Moldova41Liechtenstein16
20.12.200317:00Malta17Azerbaijan43

Reference: [1]

Group A Table

PWDLFAPts
*Azerbaijan55001607610
*Moldova5401191668
^Great Britain5302951186
^Malta5203911394
+Liechtenstein5104951422
+Ireland5005661570

Reference: [1]

Finals & Placement Matches

DateTimeTeam 1Team 2
5th-6th Place
21.12.200311:00Ireland18Liechtenstein31
3rd-4th Place
21.12.200313:00Malta16Great Britain19
Final
21.12.200315:00Moldova32Azerbaijan19

Reference: [1]

Report

The Men’s Challenge Trophy was the European Handball Federations competition for emerging Nations. Having competed with club sides & countries like Greenland in the mid-1990s, Ireland entered this competition for the first time in 1999.

In Ireland’s third time entering the competition in 2003, they lost all their matches for the second time in a row, although this time they came close against tiny Liechtenstein in the group phase, losing 23-22, only to lose by a wide margin (31-18) in the 5th-6th place playoff to the same opposition.

Moldova won the Tournament this time around, after losing the previous two finals.

About

Olympic Handball, sometimes called Team Handball or European Handball, is a team sport similar to Indoor Soccer or Futsal, except hands are used rather than feet.

The object of the sport is to pass the ball using only the hands in order to get into a semi-circle around the opposing teams goal, where a shot may be taken. Each score counts as one goal, and the court is the exact same as a Futsal court indeed Futsal was invented as an Indoor version of Soccer, using the Olympic Handball court.

The sport was invented in Germany & Northern Europe at the end of the 19th Century & beginning of the 20th Century.

References

Websites

[1] European Handball Federation (2018) 2003 Men’s Challenge Trophy [Internet] Available from: http://www.eurohandball.com/trophy/men/2003/round/1/Final+Round [Accessed 25 October 2018]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Alan Delaney.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish, North American & World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 26 September 2019

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved.

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