Handballers win bronze at world championship
Ljubljana, 5 December - Slovenia won the bronze medal at the World Men's Handball Championship in France in January with an improbable come-from-behind 31:30 win against arch-rivals Croatia in the third-place match, after trailing by as many as seven goals some 15 minutes before the end.
Paris, France
Slovenian men's national handball team wins bronze at the world championship
Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
This was the first medal for Slovenia at a world handball championship tournament, coming under the guidance of Montenegrin coach Veselin Vujović. At the time if was only the third medal for Slovenia in team sports at major tournaments after two European silvers, for the volleyball team in 2015 and for the handball team in 2004.
The feat earned the players a reception by President Borut Pahor, who decorated them with the Order of Merit. The biggest national achievement in handball was followed up by the handballers qualifying in June for the 2018 European Handball Championship in Croatia. The successful year was capped by the national association announcing that it planned to bid, together with Macedonia and Montenegro, for the European Women's Handball Championship in 2022.