SARAJEVO, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) beat Estonia 31-24 in its first match of the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship European qualification tournament at Skenderija hall here on Wednesday evening.
BiH took the lead from the beginning, gaining a 3-0 edge in just six minutes of play, while Estonians scored the first goal in 8th minute.
The rest of the first half was a splendid show by the host team to take a 18-10 lead before the break.
Estonia reduced the margin to four points in the second half but BiH scored several quick goals for the win.
BiH, Estonia and Switzerland will play two-round round-and-robin in Group 6 of the tournament with only the winner qualifying for the playoffs.
23 teams not playing the European Championship were split into six groups, with six group winners joining 12 European finalists to vie for the nine tickets to the World Championships.
The 2019 World Championships will be held in Denmark and Germany in January 2019.
