Handball-France crush Denmark to clinch European title

Jan 26 (Reuters) - France secured their third Euro championship title with a crushing 41-32 win over hosts Denmark on Sunday, further cementing their status as the sport's greatest ever team. Olympic champions France, who have now won the last nine Euro, world and Olympic finals they have played since 1995, knocked out world champions Spain in the semi-finals. Claude Onesta's team quickly opened a 13-4 lead courtesy of a bulletproof defence and impressive execution in attack, notably thanks to tournament MVP Nikola Karabatic. Denmark stayed afloat thanks to Mikkel Hansen and reached halftime with a seven-goal deficit (23-16), but France could always rely on right wing Valentin Porte, who scored nine goals from 11 attempts. Every time the hosts threatened a comeback, keeper Thierry Omeyer pulled off a decisive save and Denmark, the 2008 and 2012 European champions, looked resigned to defeat when they fell 10 points behind with 10 minutes left. Spain beat Croatia 29-28 earlier on Sunday to take the bronze medal. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond)