Watching the Olympic Games 2012: Handball

How it works There are 12 teams of seven in each of the men's and women's competitions. They are split into two groups of six, with the top four in each qualifying for the quarter-finals. Games last for 60 minutes. Who's hot In the men's event, the 2008 champions France will be favourites having also won the two world championships that have taken place since Beijing. Denmark, though, pushed them to their last world title and 2008 medallists Iceland and Spain could challenge. Norway are the women's champions, but the 2008 silver medallists Russia have won the last three world titles. Home hopes Great Britain qualify automatically as the host nation but are not medal hopes. Neither the men's nor women's teams qualified for Beijing or the most recent world championships. The women have had slightly more success than the men, who recorded what was only their second ever competitive victory against Italy recently. A quarter-final is the best realistic prospect for either team. The road to London Places are filled by the host nation, winners of five world and continental championships and six specialist Olympic qualifying events. Oct 2011 Pan American Games, Mexico Dec 2011 Women's IHF World Championships, Brazil Jan 2012 Men's European Championships, Serbia Jan-May 2012 Remaining championships/Federation qualifying events The stage Qualifying and quarter-finals are at the 7,000-capacity handball arena, with the semis and medal matches in the 12,000-seat basketball arena. Both venues are in the Olympic Park What they say To play in front of a home crowd with a stadium full of people cheering behind you would be the realisation of a dream Bobby White, GB men's goalkeeper Did you know? The handball arena catches rain water on its roof and it is used to help flush the toilets, reducing tap-water demand by 40%. Competition dates 28 Jul–12 Aug 2012 Ticket prices Preliminary group stages £20-£50 Quarter-finals £20-£125 Medal matches £45-£125 Special prices are available for category C and D tickets in the preliminary stages Tempted to be there? Sign up now You can apply for Olympic tickets until 26 April. Visit www.tickets.london2012.com The application process for tickets for the Paralympic Games will begin on 9 September 2011 and tickets for the London 2012 Festival (part of the Cultural Olympiad) in October 2011.