Tbilisi hosting U18 European Handball Championship

Some of Europe’s leading handball talents are in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi to compete for honours at Men’s U18 European Handball Championship starting this Friday.

At the Tbilisi Olympic Palace venue, 11 teams from across the continent will face each other, with the competition launching with a match between the hosts and Finland.

Their Pool B also features Belarus, Italy and Greece, with two winners of the group set to advance to the semifinals.

They will face winners of Pool A, where Estonia, Faroe Islands, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia and Switzerland are to play for the top two spots.

While the ultimate winner of the championship is decided in Tbilisi, a parallel tournament will take place in Tulln, Austria.

Trophy holders from the two competitions will then qualify for spots among 16 teams of the 2020 U20 European Championship.

From 9 to 19 August, the handball spotlight is on the Men’s 18 EHF EURO in Croatia as well as on the Men’s 18 EHF Championships in Georgia and Austria. Stick around https://t.co/nsICv87CHPpic.twitter.com/wYXRJQKwse

— EHF EURO (@EHFEURO) August 1, 2018

The Georgian athletes are coached by Tite Kalandadze, who has overseen an "intensive” preparation of the team over the last three months, the Georgian National Handball Federation said.

All matches of the Tbilisi tournament will be broadcast live on YouTube for the convenience of fans.

The GNHF received the right to host the U18 tournament in June 2017.