The men's handball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held from August 10 to August 24, at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium and National Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Twelve nations are represented in the men's tournament.
The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round, 5th and 6th teams in each group are classified 9th-12th by the results of their group matches. The losers of quarterfinal matches competed in the 5th-8th place matches by the same elimination system as the winners of the quarterfinals.
This event was the last to be completed in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Qualification Competition Date Venue Vacancies Qualified Host Nation - - 1 IHF World Championships Jan 19 - Feb 4, 2007 Germany 1 European Championships January 17–27, 2008 Norway 1 Asian Qualifying Tournament January 30, 2008 Tokyo 1 African Championships January 10–17, 2008 Angola 1 Pan American Games July 14–29, 2007 Rio de Janeiro 1 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 1 May 30 - Jun 1, 2008 Wrocław 2 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 May 30 - Jun 1, 2008 Paris 2 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 3 May 30 - Jun 1, 2008 Zadar 2 TOTAL 12
Olympic Qualifying Tournaments Tournament I: Worlds 2nd: Worlds 8th: Europe: Pan-America: Tournament II: Worlds 4th: Worlds 7th: Africa: Top continent at the Worlds (Europe): Tournament III: Worlds 5th: Worlds 6th: Asia: 2nd continent at the Worlds (Africa):
Preliminary round
Seeding The draw for the groups was held 16 June 2008. Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6
Rosters
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Medal round
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Quarterfinals
Classification
Semifinals
7th–8th place
5th–6th place
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
Ranking and statistics
Final ranking Rank Team 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Source: IHF.info
All star team
Goalkeeper: Thierry Omeyer Left wing: Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson Left back: Daniel Narcisse Centre back: Snorri Guðjónsson Right back: Ólafur Stefánsson Right wing: Albert Rocas Line player/pivot: Bertrand Gille Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info
Top goalkeepers
RankNameTeam%SavesShots 1 Johannes Bitter 41% 70 170 Thierry Omeyer 84 204 3 Mohamed Nakib 40% 59 149 4 Sławomir Szmal 37% 85 227 5 David Barrufet 36% 59 165 Oleg Grams 91 250 Kasper Hvidt 94 250 Alexey Kostygov 31 86 Maik Santos 52 145 10 Björgvin Páll Gústavsson 33% 75 226 Han Kyung-Tai 67 204 Venio Losert 44 135
Top goalscorers
RankNameTeamGoalsShots% 1 Juan García 49 65 75% 2 Snorri Guðjónsson 48 77 62% 3 Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson 43 66 65% 4 Lars Christiansen 42 59 71% 5 Michael Kraus 38 65 58% 6 Mariusz Jurasik 37 59 63% Nikola Karabatić 69 54% 8 Konstantin Igropulo 36 63 57% Jesper Nøddesbo 47 77% 10 Bertrand Gille 35 48 73% Daniel Narcisse 69 51% Albert Rocas 54 65%
References
External links Beijing 2008 Olympic Games International Handball Federation European Handball Federation Team Handball News 2008 Men's Olympic Qualification Summary