Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Tournament details
Host country	West Germany
Venue(s)	5 (in 5 host cities)
Dates	30 August – 10 September 1972
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Yugoslavia (1st title)
Runner-up	Czechoslovakia
Third place	Romania
Fourth place	East Germany
Tournament statistics
Matches played	44
Goals scored	1,428 (32.45 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Gheorghe Gruia; (37 goals)
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Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics was the second appearance of the sport at the Olympics, returning to the Olympic program after a 36-year absence. The competition was for men only and it was contested by sixteen teams.^[1]

The teams were split into four groups of four teams each. Each team played every other team in its group.

The lowest team in group A played the lowest in group B while the lowest in groups C and D played each other. The winners of those games played each other for 13th and 14th places, while the losers played each other for 15th and 16th.

The third-ranked teams in groups A and B also played each, as did those in groups C and D. Again, the winners of those games played each other, this time for 9th and 10th places. The losers played for 11th and 12th places.

The top two teams in each group advanced to the main round. Those from groups A and B became group I while those from groups C and D became group II. Another round-robin was played within those groups, with the results from the preliminary round carrying over.

The fourth-ranked teams in each of the two main round groups played each other for 7th and 8th place. The third-ranked teams played against each other for 5th and 6th place. The second-ranked teams played for the bronze medal and 4th place. The top teams in group I and group II played each other for the gold and silver medals.

Medallists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Yugoslavia (YUG) Abaz Arslanagić Petar Fajfrić Hrvoje Horvat Milorad Karalić Đorđe Lavrnić Milan Lazarević Zdravko Miljak Slobodan Mišković Branislav Pokrajac Nebojša Popović Miroslav Pribanić Albin Vidović Zoran Živković Zdenko Zorko	Czechoslovakia (TCH) Ladislav Beneš František Brůna Vladimír Haber Vladimír Jarý Jiří Kavan Arnošt Klimčík Jaroslav Konečný František Králík Jindřich Krepindl Vincent Lafko Andrej Lukošík Pavel Mikeš Petr Pospíšil Ivan Satrapa Zdeněk Škára Jaroslav Škarvan	Romania (ROU) Ştefan Birtalan Adrian Cosma Marin Dan Alexandru Dincă Cristian Gaţu Gheorghe Gruia Roland Gunesch Gabriel Kicsid Ghiţă Licu Cornel Penu Valentin Samungi Simion Schöbel Werner Stöckl Constantin Tudosie Radu Voina

Qualification

Qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	26 April 1966	Rome	1	West Germany
1970 World Championship	26 February – 8 March 1970	France	7	Romania East Germany Yugoslavia Denmark Sweden Czechoslovakia Hungary
Asian qualification tournament	13–29 November 1971	Japan	1	Japan
American qualification tournament	2–6 February 1972	Elkhart	1	United States
European qualification tournament	15–25 March 1972	Spain	5	Soviet Union Norway Iceland Poland Spain
African qualification tournament	25–31 March 1972	Tunis	1	Tunisia
Total			16

Results

Preliminary round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sweden	3	1	2	0	40	34	+6	4	Main round
2	Soviet Union	3	1	2	0	40	34	+6	4	Main round
3	Poland	3	1	1	1	35	38	−3	3	9–12th place semifinals
4	Denmark	3	0	1	2	30	39	−9	1	13–16th place semifinals

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

30 August 1972	Denmark	12–12	Soviet Union	Donauhalle, Ulm Referees: Falk, Rosmanith (FRG)
	Vodsgaard 4	(7–6)	Gassy 6

30 August 1972	Sweden	13–13	Poland	Donauhalle, Ulm Referees: Simanović, Valčić (YUG)
	L. Eriksson 7	(5–7)	Dybol 7

1 September 1972	Denmark	8–11	Poland	Hohenstaufenhalle, Göppingen Referees: Keszthelyi, Márki (HUN)
	Hansen 4	(4–6)	Melcer 5

1 September 1972	Sweden	11–11	Soviet Union	Hohenstaufenhalle, Göppingen Referees: Reichel, Tetens (FRG)
	L. Eriksson 4	(4–3)	Usaty 4

3 September 1972	Denmark	10–16	Sweden	Sporthalle, Böblingen Referees: Cârligeanu, Sidea (ROU)
	K. Andersen, Hansen 4	(4–8)	Bj. Andersson, L. Eriksson 4

3 September 1972	Soviet Union	17–11	Poland	Sporthalle, Böblingen Referees: Huseby, Nilson (NOR)
	Ilyin 5	(9–4)	Melcer 4

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	East Germany	3	3	0	0	51	32	+19	6	Main round
2	Czechoslovakia	3	1	1	1	56	40	+16	3	Main round
3	Iceland	3	1	1	1	57	51	+6	3	9–12th place semifinals
4	Tunisia	3	0	0	3	32	73	−41	0	13–16th place semifinals

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

30 August 1972	East Germany	16–11	Iceland	Sporthalle, Augsburg Referees: Cârligeanu, Sidea (ROU)
	Randt 5	(7–6)	four players 2

30 August 1972	Czechoslovakia	25–7	Tunisia	Sporthalle, Augsburg Referees: Reichel, Tetens (FRG)
	Beneš 8	(10–3)	Khalladi 2

1 September 1972	East Germany	21–9	Tunisia	Donauhalle, Ulm Referees: Huseby, Nilson (NOR)
	Ganschow, Lakenmacher 5	(11–2)	Hamrouni, Sebabti 3

1 September 1972	Czechoslovakia	19–19	Iceland	Donauhalle, Ulm Referees: Falk, Rosmanith (FRG)
	Konečný 6	(8–10)	Björgvinsson 5

3 September 1972	East Germany	14–12	Czechoslovakia	Hohenstaufenhalle, Göppingen Referees: Simanović, Valčić (YUG)
	Ganschow 4	(5–4)	Konečný 7

3 September 1972	Iceland	27–16	Tunisia	Hohenstaufenhalle, Göppingen Referees: Keszthelyi, Márki (HUN)
	Magnússon 7	(14–7)	Klai, Sebabti 3

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	3	0	0	46	37	+9	6	Main round
2	West Germany (H)	3	1	1	1	39	38	+1	3	Main round
3	Norway	3	1	1	1	48	50	−2	3	9–12th place semifinals
4	Spain	3	0	0	3	39	47	−8	0	13–16th place semifinals

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts

30 August 1972	Romania	18–14	Norway	Sporthalle, Böblingen Referees: Siebert, Singer (GDR)
	Gruia, Gunnesch 6	(11–10)	T. Hansen 4

30 August 1972	West Germany	13–10	Spain	Sporthalle, Böblingen Referees: Ovdal, Rodil (DEN)
	Lange, Lübking 3	(7–5)	De Andrés 4

1 September 1972	Romania	15–12	Spain	Sporthalle, Augsburg Referees: Janerstam, Larsson (SWE)
	Gruia, Tudosie 3	(6–4)	De Andrés 5

1 September 1972	West Germany	15–15	Norway	Sporthalle, Augsburg Referees: Bertschinger, Gabriel (SUI)
	Bucher 7	(7–8)	Reinertsen 4

3 September 1972	Romania	13–11	West Germany	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Carlsson, Olsson (SWE)
	Gruia 7	(5–5)	Bucher, Westebbe 3

3 September 1972	Norway	19–17	Spain	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Siebert, Singer (GDR)
	Reinertsen 5	(10–4)	Taure 6

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Yugoslavia	3	3	0	63	45	+18	6	Main round
2	Hungary	3	2	1	64	45	+19	4	Main round
3	Japan	3	1	2	46	56	−10	2	9–12th place semifinals
4	United States	3	0	3	46	73	−27	0	13–16th place semifinals

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

30 August 1972	Yugoslavia	20–14	Japan	Hohenstaufenhalle, Göppingen Referees: Janerstam, Larsson (SWE)
	Lavrnić 5	(11–7)	Noda 4

30 August 1972	Hungary	28–15	United States	Hohenstaufenhalle, Göppingen Referees: Repo, Tuominen (FIN)
	Varga 13	(16–8)	Rogers, Schlesinger 4

1 September 1972	Yugoslavia	25–15	United States	Sporthalle, Böblingen Referees: Siebert, Singer (GDR)
	Horvat, Pribanić 7	(11–9)	Abrahamson 6

1 September 1972	Hungary	20–12	Japan	Sporthalle, Böblingen Referees: Carlsson, Olsson (SWE)
	Varga 6	(10–7)	Chikamori, Kino 3

3 September 1972	Yugoslavia	18–16	Hungary	Sporthalle, Augsburg Referees: Ovdal, Rodil (DEN)
	Lavrnić 8	(9–8)	Varga 5

3 September 1972	Japan	20–16	United States	Sporthalle, Augsburg Referees: Bertschinger, Gabriel (SUI)
	Iida 7	(9–9)	Abrahamson, Rogers 4

Classification round

Bracket

9th place bracket

9–12th place semifinals		9th place

7 September

Poland	20
		9 September
Iceland	17
		Poland	20
7 September
		Norway (ET)	23
Norway	19

Japan	17
		11th place

		9 September

		Iceland	18

		Japan	19

13th place bracket

13–16th place semifinals		13th place

7 September

Denmark	29
		9 September
Tunisia	21
		Denmark	19
7 September
		United States	18
Spain	20

United States	22
		15th place

		9 September

		Tunisia	20

		Spain	23

13–16th place semifinals

7 September 1972	Denmark	29–21	Tunisia	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Huseby, Nilson (NOR)
	Hansen 8	(11–9)	Sebabti 8

7 September 1972	Spain	20–22	United States	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Bertschinger, Gabriel (SUI)
	Morera 7	(11–8)	Abrahamson 7

9–12th place semifinals

7 September 1972	Poland	20–17	Iceland	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Reichel, Tetens (FRG)
	Antczak 5	(10–7)	Magnússon 6

7 September 1972	Norway	19–17	Japan	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Falk, Rosmanith (FRG)
	T. Hansen 5	(8–9)	Arinaga 5

15th place game

9 September 1972	Tunisia	20–23	Spain	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Falk, Rosmanith (FRG)
	Sebabti 9	(10–11)	Rochel 9

13th place game

9 September 1972	Denmark	19–18	United States	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Keszthelyi, Márki (HUN)
	Hansen 8	(12–6)	Abrahamson, Rogers 5

Eleventh place game

9 September 1972	Iceland	18–19	Japan	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Sidea, Cârligeanu (ROU)
	Hallsteinsson 7	(12–11)	three players 4

Ninth place game

9 September 1972	Poland	20–23 (ET)	Norway	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Reichel, Tetens (FRG)
	Melcer 6	(10–10)	T. Hansen 10

	FT: 19–19 ET: 1–4

Main round

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Czechoslovakia	3	2	0	1	42	38	+4	4	Gold medal game
2	East Germany	3	2	0	1	36	34	+2	4	Bronze medal game
3	Soviet Union	3	1	1	1	34	34	0	3	Fifth place game
4	Sweden	3	0	1	2	34	40	−6	1	Seventh place game

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

5 September 1972	Sweden	12–15	Czechoslovakia	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Falk, Rosmanith (FRG)
	L. Eriksson 5	(6–7)	three players 3

6 September 1972	Soviet Union	11–8	East Germany	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Simanović, Valčić (YUG)
	Klimov, Panov 3	(4–4)	four players 2

8 September 1972	Sweden	11–14	East Germany	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Cârligeanu, Sidea (ROU)
	L. Eriksson 4	(6–8)	Ganschow 6

8 September 1972	Soviet Union	12–15	Czechoslovakia	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Keszthelyi, Márki (HUN)
	Kulev 7	(7–7)	Konečný 4

Group II

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Yugoslavia	3	3	0	56	44	+12	6	Gold medal game
2	Romania	3	2	1	46	39	+7	4	Bronze medal game
3	West Germany (H)	3	1	2	43	51	−8	2	Fifth place game
4	Hungary	3	0	3	44	55	−11	0	Seventh place game

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts

6 September 1972	Romania	20–14	Hungary	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Singer, Siebert (GDR)
	Gruia 8	(11–6)	Kaló, Varga 3

6 September 1972	West Germany	15–24	Yugoslavia	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Ovdal, Rodil (DEN)
	Bucher, Karrer 4	(7–14)	Lavrnić, Lazarević 6

8 September 1972	Romania	13–14	Yugoslavia	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Carlsson, Olsson (SWE)
	Gruia 8	(4–5)	Lazarević 6

8 September 1972	West Germany	17–14	Hungary	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Janerstam, Larsson (SWE)
	Möller 6	(8–6)	Stiller, K. Vass 3

Final round

Seventh place game

10 September 1972	Sweden	19–18	Hungary	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Singer, Siebert (GDR)
	Persson 5	(11–8)	K. Vass 6

Fifth place game

10 September 1972	Soviet Union	17–16	West Germany	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Simanović, Valčić (YUG)
	Panov, Usaty 4	(10–9)	Möller, Wehnert 5

Bronze medal game

10 September 1972	East Germany	16–19	Romania	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Carlsson, Olsson (SWE)
	Böhme 4	(8–11)	Gruia, Gunesch 5

Gold medal game

10 September 1972	Yugoslavia	21–16	Czechoslovakia	Olympiahalle, Munich Referees: Ovdal, Rodil (DEN)
	Lazarević 6	(12–5)	Jarý 6

Rankings and statistics

Final ranking

Rank	Team
	Yugoslavia
	Czechoslovakia
	Romania
4	East Germany
5	Soviet Union
6	West Germany
7	Sweden
8	Hungary
9	Norway
10	Poland
11	Japan
12	Iceland
13	Denmark
14	United States
15	Spain
16	Tunisia

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals
1	Gheorghe Gruia	37
2	István Varga	32
3	Đorđe Lavrnić	28
4	Flemming Hansen	27
4	Milan Lazarević	27
6	Lennart Eriksson	25
7	Richard Abrahamson	24
7	Mohamed Sebabti	24
9	Torstein Hansen	22
9	Jaroslav Konečný	22

Participating nations

Each country was allowed to enter a team of 16 players and they all were eligible for participation. Japan entered only a squad of twelve.

A total of 242(*) handball players from 16 nations competed at the Munich Games:

Czechoslovakia (16)
Denmark (16)
East Germany (16)
West Germany (16)
Hungary (15)
Iceland (15)
Japan (12)
Norway (16)
Poland (15)
Romania (15)
Soviet Union (15)
Spain (15)
Sweden (16)
Tunisia (15)
United States (15)
Yugoslavia (14)

(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least.

Not all reserve players are known.

Team rosters

Czechoslovakia	Denmark	East Germany	Hungary
Ladislav Beneš František Brůna Vladimír Haber Vladimír Jarý Jiří Kavan Arnošt Klimčík Jaroslav Konečný František Králík Jindřich Krepindl Vincent Lafko Andrej Lukošík Pavel Mikeš Petr Pospíšil Ivan Satrapa Zdeněk Škára Jaroslav Škarvan	Arne Andersen Keld Andersen Jørgen Frandsen Claus From Flemming Hansen Jørgen Heidemann Søren Jensen Bent Jørgensen Kay Jørgensen Flemming Lauritzen Svend Lund Tom Lund Thor Munkager Vagn Nielsen Karsten Sørensen Jørgen Vodsgaard	Wolfgang Böhme Reiner Frieske Reiner Ganschow Jürgen Hildebrand Horst Jankhöfer Wolfgang Lakenmacher Klaus Langhoff Peter Larisch Peter Randt Udo Röhrig Josef Rose Siegfried Voigt Klaus Weiß Rainer Würdig Rainer Zimmermann Harry Zörnack	János Adorján Béla Bartalos János Csík László Harka József Horváth Sándor Kaló István Marosi Lajos Simó János Stiller István Szabó László Szabó Sándor Takács István Varga (BHSE) Károly Vass (Elektromos SE) Sándor Vass (Elektromos SE) Gyula Hurth
Iceland	Japan	Norway	Poland
Axel Axelsson Ólafur Benediktsson Björgvin Björgvinsson Hjalti Einarsson Sigurður Einarsson Birgir Finnbogason Stefán Gunnarsson Geir Hallsteinsson Ólafur Jónsson Stefán Jónsson Jón Magnússon Ágúst Ögmundsson Sigurbergur Sigsteinsson Viðar Símonarson Gunnsteinn Skúlason Gísli Blöndal	Shuji Arinaga Katsuhiko Chikamori Kiyotaka Hayakawa Hiroshi Honda Masayuki Hyokai Nobuyuki Iida Minoru Kino Takezo Nakai Toshio Niimi Kiyoshi Noda Kenichi Sasaki Toshihiko Shimosato	Per Ankre Arnulf Bæk Pål Bye Pål Cappelen Carl Graff-Wang Inge Hansen Torstein Hansen Roger Hverven Ulf Magnussen Jan Økseter Sten Osther Jon Reinertsen Geir Røse Per Søderstrøm Harald Tyrdal Finn Urdal Coach: Thor Nohr	Zdzisław Antczak Zbigniew Dybol Franciszek Gąsior Jan Gmyrek Bogdan Kowalczyk Zygfryd Kuchta Andrzej Lech Jerzy Melcer Helmut Pniociński Henryk Rozmiarek Andrzej Sokołowski Engelbert Szolc Andrzej Szymczak Włodzimierz Wachowicz Robert Zawada
Romania	Soviet Union	Spain	Sweden
Ştefan Birtalan Adrian Cosma Marin Dan Alexandru Dincă Cristian Gaţu Gheorghe Gruia Roland Gunesch Gabriel Kicsid Ghiţă Licu Cornel Penu Valentin Samungi Simion Schöbel Werner Stöckl Constantin Tudosie Radu Voina	Valeri Gassy(University Krasnodar) Vasily Ilyin(MAI Moscow) Mykhaylo Ishchenko(ZMetI Zaporozhzhie) Yury Klimov(MAI Moscow) Valentin Kulev(Kuntsevo Moscow) Yuriy Lahutyn(ZMetI Zaporozhzhie) Mikhail Lutsenko(Kuntsevo Moscow) Vladimir Maksimov(MAI Moscow) Albert Oganezov(MAI Moscow) Aleksandr Panov(University Krasnodar) Oleksandr Rezanov(ZMetI Zaporozhzhie) Nikolay Semyonov(Kuntsevo Moscow) Anatoly Shevchenko(Kuntsevo Moscow) Ivan Usaty(CSKA Moscow) Jānis Vilsons(MAI Moscow)	Antonio Andreu Miguel Ángel Cascallana Fernando de Andrés Javier García Jesús Guerrero Juan Miguel Igartua Santos Labaca Francisco López Juan Antonio Medina Juan Morera Vicente Ortega José Perramón José Rochel José Manuel Taure José Villamarín	Björn Andersson Bo Andersson Dan Eriksson Lennart Eriksson Johan Fischerström Göran Hård af Segerstad Bengt Johansson Benny Johansson Jan Jonsson Lars Karlsson Michael Koch Olle Olsson Sten Olsson Thomas Persson Bertil Söderberg Frank Ström
Tunisia	United States	West Germany	Yugoslavia
Ahmed Bechir Bel Hadj Abderraouf Ben Samir Moncef Besbes Rached Boudhina Taoufik Djemail Aleya Hamrouni Mohamed Naceur Jelili Mounir Jelili Mohamed Klai Mohamed Khalladi Faouzi Ksouri Moncef Loueslati Mohamed Sebabti Amor Sghaier Abdel Aziz Zaibi Ridha Zitoun	Richard Abrahamson Fletcher Abram Roger Baker Dennis Berkholtz Larry Caton Vincent DiCalogero Elmer Edes Thomas Hardiman Rudolph Matthews Sandor Rivnyak James Rogers Richard Schlesinger Kevin Serrapede Robert Sparks Joel Voelkert Coach: Peter Buehning Sr. Assistant coach: Laszlo Jurak^[2] Harry Winkler	Herwig Ahrendsen Hans-Jürgen Bode Wolfgang Braun Peter Bucher Jochen Feldhoff Diethard Finkelmann Josef Karrer Klaus Kater Klaus Lange Herbert Lübking Heiner Möller Hans-Peter Neuhaus Uwe Rathjen Herbert Rogge Herbert Wehnert Klaus Westebbe	Abas Arslanagić (Borac Banja Luka) Petar Fajfrić (Crvenka) Hrvoje Horvat (Partizan Bjelovar) Milorad Karalić (Borac Banja Luka) Đorđe Lavrnić (Krivaja Zavidovići) Milan Lazarević (Crvena zvezda Beograd) Zdravko Miljak (Medveščak Zagreb) Slobodan Mišković (Crvenka) Branislav Pokrajac (Dinamo Pančevo) Nebojša Popović (Borac Banja Luka) Miroslav Pribanić (Partizan Bjelovar) Albin Vidović (BHSE) Zoran Živković (FAP Priboj na Limu) Zdenko Zorko (Zagreb) Coach: Vlado Štencl Čedomir Bugarski Dobrivoje Selec

References

^ "Handball at the 1972 Munich Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^ Singer, Harold (13 September 1972). "Panther Highlights". The Delphian. 13 (1). Garden City, New York: 16. OCLC 10569103. Retrieved 18 May 2020.

External links

[SR-1] "Handball at the 1972 Munich Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

[2] Singer, Harold (13 September 1972). "Panther Highlights". The Delphian. 13 (1). Garden City, New York: 16. OCLC 10569103. Retrieved 18 May 2020.

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[2]