Ingstad handled well at both ends of the pitch and scored. He equaled his record from the national team with eight complete hits.

Denmark, Sweden and Slovenia will play Norway in the main draw. The first Norwegian team will be in action on Saturday.

It meant something as rare as a three-day continuous match break.

The table looked like this before the main draw: 1) Norway 4 points, 2) Denmark, Croatia, Slovenia and Sweden 2, 6) Hungary 0.

Norway had full draft under their skis for most of the first round. Hungary led several times with three goals. Only at 12-11 (Malin Aune goal) did Norway take the lead. Then it became 14-12 in the first half.

The more accurate Norwegian team controlled Hungary in the second half.

In the main round, defending champions Norway will face a much more capable opponent than in the group stage.

Duel

There will be two Nordic duels and a meeting with hosts Slovenia:

* Denmark have lost their last 16 matches against Norway.

* Sweden played 30-30 against Norway in last year’s World Cup, but almost always lost the championship against Norwegian opposition.

* Slovenia is a Norwegian team that doesn’t meet often in EC and WC. The 2019 world championships ended with Norway winning 36-20. The Slovenes will probably have a huge crowd at the Arena Stožice in Ljubljana.

Thanks for the last one

The key match in the group at Celje is between Sweden and Denmark. Several Swedes ended the match day with scathing criticism of the Danish team. It points to the arrogant attitude of the opposing line.

Denmark uses plot as a lighter fluid. Sweden really stopped in the first round.

Goalkeeper Sandra Toft saved “everything” en route to 13-5 at the break. It also meant that the match was decided halfway. Denmark eventually won 25-23.