Quarterfinalists are clear as group stage concludes

It was quite a clash between the teams of men's Pool B in the 2017 IBSA Goalball European Championships in Pajulahti, Finland. All five teams ended up with six points and the positions were decided over goal differences.

Paralympic gold medallist Lithuania ended on top despite losing their last match to Finland 7–11. Slovenia instead are going down to B Division despite winning their last match against Sweden 6–4.

– We had two great wins but on the other hand we played our other two games very badly. There was something wrong with our mind set, said Slovenian head coach Ivan Vinkler.

Home team Finland was close to dropping out of the quarterfinals after disastrous first day but they managed to get wins over Slovenia and Lithuania on Tuesday and climbed to safety.

– We changed our tactics and started to push hard in the beginning to get few goals in front and it worked out this time, said Finnish captain Jarno Mattila.

Finland finished fourth in Pool B with Belgium third, Sweden second and Lithuania on top.

In Pool A Germany came on top despite losing their first match on Tuesday to Ukraine 6–9. Pool A was almost as even as Pool B with three teams – Germany, Ukraine and Turkey – finishing with nine points.

Russia has been unbeatable so far in the women’s tournament with four big wins over Greece, Denmark, Finland and Ukraine in Pool Y. Home team Finland climbed to the quarterfinals thanks to good second day that included a 1–1 draw against Denmark and 6–1 win over Greece.

Reigning European Champion Turkey topped the Pool X with three wins and a draw against Germany. Against Israel Turkey came back to a 6–5 victory after being 2–4 down at half time. Turkey’s Sevda Altunoluk have scored 22 goals in four matches.

Great Britain women won Sweden 6–3 in their first match of the day and secured their place to quarterfinals.

– It’s nice to see all the hard work paying off and get some consistent results. We are really pleased, said GB center player Georgina Bullen.

Women’s play off matches on Wednesday

•10.00 Places 9–10: Ukraine–Sweden
•12.00 Quarter final: Turkey–Finland
•14.00 Quarter final: Greece–Great Britain
•16.00 Quarter final: Israel–Denmark
•18.00 Quarter final: Russia–Germany

Men's play off matches on Wednesday

•11.00 Places 9–10: Slovenia–Great Britain
•13.00 Quarter final: Germany–Finland
•15.00 Quarter final: Sweden–Turkey
•17.00 Quarter final: Ukraine–Belgium
•19.00 Quarter final: Lithuania–Czech Republic

RESULTS

Caption: championships banner.