Great start for Hammarby

Drammens HK, won 32-31 away against the Polish title holders Zaglebie Lublin in Group G on Friday night. The Norwegian champions were not the only Scandinavian team to win in the first round. The Swedish Hammarby won on Sunday evening in Group B against Romanian HCM Constanta. The victory was clear: 33-25 after a 18-14 at half time.

The Romanian champions did quite well in the Champions League last season, but they lost several players since then. They may face difficulties in a group with two other teams that won the Champions League before, THW Kiel and French Montpellier HB. Many expected the clash of Hammarby and Constanta to decide about the Cup Winners’ Cup qualification. The Swedes won this important game in front of 1,100 spectators in Stockholm on Sunday evening.

Widening gap

Though much of the first half was equal, Hammarby took the initiative soon: 5-3 at an early state, but Constanta managed to equalise and to take a 7-8 lead. The hosts soon took over again to lead 17-12, before taking a relatively comfortable 18-14 lead for half time.

From the start of the second half, Hammarby soon increased their lead considerably to 21-15, 25-16 and 30-19. The visitors came somewhat closer at the end, the final result was 33-25. The team of former Swedish international, Staffan Olsson, could celebrate.

Mixed results for the Scandinavians

Apart from Swedish Hammarby and Norwegian Drammen, Scandinavia is represented by two Danish teams in the first Champions League group stage. Danish champions GOG Svendborg started with a surprising 28-28 draw away against Spanish Portland San Antonio, while silver medallist Vihorg HK suffered a clear 35-26 away defeat to HSV Hamburg.