By Pat Leonard

SportsTicker Staff Writer

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The facts of team handball in the Summer Olympic Games of Sydney: 12 countries will be represented in the men's tournament and 10 for the women's competition.

The United States did not qualify for this event. Four years ago in Atlanta, the U.S. men's team finished ninth and the women's team eighth.

The countries competing for the men will be host Australia, 1996 silver-medal winner Sweden, bronze-medal winner Spain, Russia, Yugoslavia, Germany, France, Egypt, Cuba, Tunisia, South Korea and Slovenia.

Besides Australia, which is making its Olympic handball debut, the women's field will consist of Norway, France, Austria, Romania, Hungary, Angola, Denmark, Brazil and South Korea.

For the men, the team to beat will be the defending silver medalists from Sweden. The blue and gold captured the 1999 Handball World Championships in Cairo, Egypt, and the Euro 2000 title in Zagreb, Croatia in January, defeating a tough Russian squad both times.

The Swedes will feature Pierre Thorsson, Magnus Wislander, Stefan Lovgren, Ljubomir Vranjes and Staffan Olsson. It was Olsson's goal with one minute remaining in the Euro 2000 finals that tied the Russians at 24-24, forcing the match to go to extra time and enabling his countrymen to win, 32-31.

The Russians should once again be Sweden's toughest competition in Sydney. Their top players are Alexandre Toutchkine, Igor Lavrov, Serguei Pogorelov, Alexandre Toutchkine and Blazo Lisicic.

Other notable countries in the team handball tournament include South Korea, which won the Asian Championships, and Spain, which finished third at the Euro 2000 tournament.
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