Next week the U22 European Championship for Men will start in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. It will take place from 9th – 14th January 2017.
The following eight countries will play across two groups in the opening stage of the tournament. In Group A hosts Italy take on Israel, Germany and the Netherlands whilst in Group B defending U22 European Champions Great Britain will play Turkey, Spain and France.
The top two placed teams of each group will qualify for the semi-final that will take place on Friday 13th January in the GETUR Sport Complex. All four semi-finalists will be guaranteed a place at the U23 World Championship in Toronto, Canada taking place this June. Whilst it will be the 5th/6th Play-Off which will determine which country takes the final spot with five spots available for the European Zone at the U23 World Championships.
Defending U22 European Champions Great Britain are the favourites to win the title, but will have tough competition from the rest of their field including current U23 World Champions and U22 European Silver medalists Germany, as well as Italy and Turkey who will be looking to improve on their 3rd and 4th place, respectively, from 2014 U22 European Championships in Zaragoza.
Live streaming, results, photos, videos and all the news about the tournament can be found on the ECMU22 Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ecmu22/.
