Denmark won four from four in round one of the men's European Beach Handball Championship ©EHF

Denmark's men's team, the reigning champions, topped their European Beach Handball Championships group with four wins from four in Varna in Bulgaria, but 2019 runners-up Norway needed a shoot-out victory to progress.

Spain beat Turkey 21-19, 27-17 in Group A, ensuring that both teams would be unbeaten when they faced Denmark later in the day, while Norway beat Romania in two sets for their first victory of the event.

Norway played Turkey knowing the victor would progress to the main round, and the match went to the wire.

The Norwegians lost the opening set, but bounced back and won the shoot-out for a 22-24, 24-20, 9-6 triumph.

Denmark beat Spain 23-18, 19-16 to finish top of the group.

France topped Group B and also qualified undefeated - first beating Italy 24-14, 23-18 today and then Greece 30-15, 24-16.

Joining them in the next round will be Hungary and Ukraine.

Croatia won all of their matches in four-team Group C, overcoming Poland 29-20, 24-20 in a high-scoring match today.

Sweden defeated Bulgaria 22-9, 19-13 to finish third and qualify with Poland and Croatia.

Russia won all three of their matches in Group D, keeping their 100 per cent record intact today with a 19-17, 18-16 win over Germany, who finished third.

Joining them in the second round is Portugal, who won 18-12, 24-14 against the bottom-of-the-table Dutch.

In the women's event, defending champions Denmark bounced back from a day-one defeat to Ukraine to top Group A with a 21-12, 16-15 win over Turkey and a 30-7, 28-10 victory versus Bulgaria.

With the top four all vying for a top three spot in the next round, Spain's 26-13, 22-11 win over Bulgaria and 23-12, 21-16 victory over Ukraine were enough to have them finish second, with Turkey in third.

Norway topped Group B by finishing off with a 19-12, 18-19, 10-6 win over Italy, with Croatia and Hungary joining them in the main round.

In the tie between the two, Croatia defeated Hungary 14-20, 15-14, 12-10.

Germany also remained undefeated in Group C, seeing off second-placed The Netherlands 16-15, 24-15. 

Portugal ensured their spot in the next round with a 17-6, 22-8 victory over Romania.

Finally in Group D, Poland, France and Greece all finished on two wins and one loss to progress.

Poland topped the group via a 14-15, 22-18, 5-4 win over Russia, while Greece stopped France from finishing with a 100 per cent record, defeating them 17-16, 18-19, 8-2.