Croatia won their third men's title at the Beach Handball World Championships as Germany were crowned as women's winners for the first time ©Getty Images

Croatia won their third men's title at the Beach Handball World Championships as Germany were crowned as women's winners for the first time.

The Croatians beat Denmark 2-0 in the final at the Karteros Beach Sports Center in Crete, with beach handball using a periods format.

They won 24-22, 21-18 to add to their previous world titles from 2008 and 2016.

It capped a perfect tournament for the Croatians who won every match they played - including three in the group stage and then five in the main round.

They then saw off Norway in the quarter-finals and hosts Greece in the last four.

Brazil, the five-time winners who had won four of the last five tournaments and were defending their title, had to settle for bronze this time after losing to Denmark in the semi-finals.

They saw off Greece 2-0, 18-15, 24-18, for third.

In the women's event, Germany clinched their maiden title after a 2-0 victory over Spain in the final, 15-14, 22-20.

Like Croatia, they enjoyed a perfect record at the tournament after winning all of their group and main round matches.

Germany then beat Portugal in the quarter-finals and The Netherlands in the semi-finals.

The Germans went one better than Croatia, however, as they remarkably became the first team - in any category or gender - to win gold without conceding a single period.

As with the men's event, Greece suffered home heartbreak in the battle for bronze as the reigning champions lost 2-1 to the Dutch, 23-22, 16-19, 9-8.