Final Standings
| Place | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Moldova | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 223 | 85 | 10 |
| 2 | Azerbaijan | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 179 | 104 | 10 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 114 | 134 | 8 |
| 4 | Malta | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 107 | 158 | 4 |
| 5 | Liechtenstein | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 126 | 160 | 4 |
| 6 | Ireland | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 84 | 188 | 0 |
Reference: Compiled from Results & Table in [1]
Group A Results
| Date | Time | Team 1 | Team 2 | ||
| 17.12.2003 | 15:00 | Azerbaijan | 32 | Liechtenstein | 16 |
| 17.12.2003 | 17:00 | Great Britain | 9 | Moldova | 38 |
| 17.12.2003 | 20:00 | Malta | 25 | Ireland | 14 |
| 18.12.2003 | 09:00 | Azerbaijan | 29 | Great Britain | 14 |
| 18.12.2003 | 11:00 | Liechtenstein | 17 | Malta | 20 |
| 18.12.2003 | 13:00 | Ireland | 6 | Moldova | 47 |
| 18.12.2003 | 17:00 | Liechtenstein | 23 | Great Britain | 27 |
| 18.12.2003 | 19:00 | Moldova | 46 | Malta | 13 |
| 18.12.2003 | 21:00 | Ireland | 10 | Azerbaijan | 36 |
| 19.12.2003 | 15:00 | Azerbaijan | 20 | Moldova | 19 |
| 19.12.2003 | 17:00 | Liechtenstein | 23 | Ireland | 22 |
| 19.12.2003 | 19:00 | Great Britain | 19 | Malta | 16 |
| 20.12.2003 | 13:00 | Great Britain | 26 | Ireland | 12 |
| 20.12.2003 | 15:00 | Moldova | 41 | Liechtenstein | 16 |
| 20.12.2003 | 17:00 | Malta | 17 | Azerbaijan | 43 |
Reference: [1]
Group A Table
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| *Azerbaijan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 160 | 76 | 10 |
| *Moldova | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 191 | 66 | 8 |
| ^Great Britain | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 95 | 118 | 6 |
| ^Malta | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 91 | 139 | 4 |
| +Liechtenstein | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 95 | 142 | 2 |
| +Ireland | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 66 | 157 | 0 |
Reference: [1]
Finals & Placement Matches
| Date | Time | Team 1 | Team 2 | ||
| 5th-6th Place | |||||
| 21.12.2003 | 11:00 | Ireland | 18 | Liechtenstein | 31 |
| 3rd-4th Place | |||||
| 21.12.2003 | 13:00 | Malta | 16 | Great Britain | 19 |
| Final | |||||
| 21.12.2003 | 15:00 | Moldova | 32 | Azerbaijan | 19 |
Reference: [1]
Report
The Men’s Challenge Trophy was the European Handball Federations competition for emerging Nations. Having competed with club sides & countries like Greenland in the mid-1990s, Ireland entered this competition for the first time in 1999.
In Ireland’s third time entering the competition in 2003, they lost all their matches for the second time in a row, although this time they came close against tiny Liechtenstein in the group phase, losing 23-22, only to lose by a wide margin (31-18) in the 5th-6th place playoff to the same opposition.
Moldova won the Tournament this time around, after losing the previous two finals.
About
Olympic Handball, sometimes called Team Handball or European Handball, is a team sport similar to Indoor Soccer or Futsal, except hands are used rather than feet.
The object of the sport is to pass the ball using only the hands in order to get into a semi-circle around the opposing teams goal, where a shot may be taken. Each score counts as one goal, and the court is the exact same as a Futsal court indeed Futsal was invented as an Indoor version of Soccer, using the Olympic Handball court.
The sport was invented in Germany & Northern Europe at the end of the 19th Century & beginning of the 20th Century.
References
Websites
[1] European Handball Federation (2018) 2003 Men’s Challenge Trophy [Internet] Available from: http://www.eurohandball.com/trophy/men/2003/round/1/Final+Round [Accessed 25 October 2018]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Alan Delaney.
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish, North American & World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 26 September 2019
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved.