Faroe Islands beat hosts Sweden to win Men’s 17 European Open

Faroe Islands completed a near-flawless campaign at the Men’s 17 European Open by downing hosts Sweden in the final and lifting the trophy in front of more than 6,000 fans at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg on Friday night.

Leading by just one goal (16:15) at half-time, Faroe Islands ultimately won the final 36:29. Back court player Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu contributed 10 goals, while centre back Elliot Stenhalm led for Sweden with eight.

A Skipagotu raised his total for the tournament to 69 and became the top scorer, two goals clear of Georgia’s Nikoloz Kalandaze. He was also named MVP of the tournament.

Iceland finished third after edging Belarus 30:29 in the bronze-medal match.

Faroe Islands failed to win only one of their nine matches at the tournament, losing 18:16 to Israel in their last match of the preliminary round when they had already secured their place in the next phase.

In the main round, they defeated Spain, Belarus and Hungary, while Sweden drew with Czech Republic before beating Italy and Iceland to win the other main-round group and advance to the final.

The European Open provide a stage to Europe’s youngest generations of internationals to showcase their skills. For the first time all matches of the 24-nation tournament were streamed live on ehfTV.com, the OTT platform of the European Handball Federation.

Men’s 17 European Open 2019 All-star Team:

Goalkeeper: Pauli Jabobsen - Faroe Islands

Left wing: Julian Sjögren - Sweden

Left back: Kiryl Samoila - Belarus

Centre back: Elliot Stenhalm - Sweden

Right back: Onadi Janoskuti Mate - Hungary

Right wing: Av Teigum Hakun West - Faroe Islands

Line player: Tamas Papp - Hungary

MVP: Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu - Faroe Islands

Best defence player: Toorsson Tryggvyi - Iceland

Top scorer: Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu - Faroe Islands (69 goals)

Photos: Christian Wahlgren, Partille Cup Phototeam