Romania’s national women’s handball team qualified to the semifinals of the European Championship in France despite a 29-31 bitter defeat against arch-rivals Hungary on Wednesday, December 12.

However, the team lost its star player, Cristina Neagu, who suffered a knee injury close to the end of the match and will likely miss the semifinal encounter against Russia. Neagu was Romania’s top scorer in the first six matches at the Euro 2018, with 44 goals out of a team total of 171.

Romania had a great start in the tournament with three victories in the three matches of the first group stage, against Czech Republic, Germany and defending champions Norway. However, in the second group stage, Romania started with a defeat against the Netherlands, then made a comeback to win against Spain and ended with a loss to Hungary, after dominating the first quarter of the match.

Still, with 6 points and better direct results, Romania qualified to the semifinals, leaving favorites Norway out of the race for a new title.

The semifinals take place in Paris on Friday, December 14.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: fra2018.ehf-euro.com / Photo credit: Anze Malovrh / kolektiff)