Coinciding with the Men’s 18 EHF EURO 2018, an event which determines the continental champion in this age category, the lower-tier Men’s 18 EHF Championship will be played in Austria and Georgia from August 10 to 19.

 

Based on seeding by the EHF, the top 16 national teams in this age category play the Men’s 18 EHF EURO, while 23 contest the Men’s 18 EHF Championship. This system was approved by EHF Congress in 2014 with the goal of developing the national squads of lower-ranked European nations. The system was then introduced in 2016 and is fully implemented as of this summer.

 

The Men’s 18 EHF Championship will be played in two locations, with one event held in Tulln, Austria and the other taking place in Tbilisi, Georgia – where the 2017 Men’s Youth World Championship was hosted last summer. 12 nations will take the court for the EHF Championship in Tulln, while 11 will play the event in Tbilisi.

 

For each event, the teams have been drawn into two preliminary round groups. From the preliminary round, the top two sides in each group progress to the semi-finals, while the remainder play placement matches. There are more than trophies on the line, as the winners of each Men’s 18 EHF Championship qualify for the Men’s 20 EHF EURO 2020.

 

In Tulln, Czech Republic, Turkey, Montenegro, Ukraine, Great Britain and Ireland will play from Group A, while Group B features Slovakia, Austria, Netherlands, Latvia, Kosovo and Bulgaria. In Tbilisi, Group A consists of Switzerland, Faroe Islands, FYR Macedonia, Estonia, Lithuania and Luxembourg. Group B includes Belarus, Italy, Finland, Greece and Georgia.

 

More information on the Men’s 18 EHF Championships is available on the official website of the EHF: competition in Tulln; competition in Tbilisi.