Champions Trophy: top handball, European coverage

Celje will be crowded by handball fans, journalists and the best players of Europe this weekend as the Slovenian city will host the Champions Trophy on Saturday and Sunday. The winners of the Champions League, Cup Winners’ Cup and EHF Cup will meet the local team to play for the prestigious trophy in front of crowded tribunes and journalists from all over Europe.

Kiel will start against Hamburg, while Celje will face Magdeburg in Saturday’s semi-finals. The teams have already arrived in Celje on Friday and the coaches commented on the chances at the evening press conference.

Noka Serdarusic (THW Kiel):

"It’s a great pleasure to return to Celje once again for this event. As you know, Kiel always go for the victory regardless what tournament or match we play. We will have problems, though. Virtually, all our backcourt players are injured: Zeitz, Andersson, Jicha remained at home; Karabatic and Pajovic are here but they are also injured. It will be difficult for us."

Bogdan Wenta (SC Magdeburg):

"We will play against strong teams this weekend. We lost a game in the Bundesliga only 24 hours ago, so it is not easy. I have a young team, and maybe it is good that they don’t think too much about defeats; we can go on right away with the next game coming up so quickly."

Martin Schwalb (HSV Hamburg):

"It is a pleasure to be here at a tournament that has such a great prestige. Our objective is to win - the same is true about other teams - so there is a great task ahead of us."

Kasim Kamenica (RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko):

"Celje have one this trophy once already - that time in Spain. Now we play against German sides. They may have somewhat better players, but I’m confident. All our players are healthy and we have a fair chance to win against Magdeburg and make it to the final."

Tournament info

An important point in the tournament regulation is the decision in case of a draw. In the semi-finals and in the 3/4 match, no extra time shall be played; the teams go directly to 7-m shoot-out. In the final, 2x5 minutes of extra time shall be played and then 7-m shots follow.

The Champions Trophy, apart from the coveted title, will also be played for money prize. The winner of the trophy will receive 35.000 Euro; the second gets 20.000 Euro, the third 10.000 and the fourth 5.000.

Prestigious event

Apart from the trophy and the prizes, the prestige of the Champions Trophy is underlined by Eurosport’s live coverage taking the pictures to millions of households all over the continent.

The trophy for the winner will be handed over by EHF President, Tor Lian, who will also watch the tournament at the venue in Celje’s Dvorana Zlatorog.

Programme and TV Coverage:

Semi-final
RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko vs SC Magdeburg
20 October 2007, 17:00hrs
Eurosport
TV Slovenia 2

Semi-final
THW Kiel vs HSV Hamburg
20 October 2007, 19:00hrs
Eurosport 2

Final 3/4
21 October 2007, 13:30hrs
Eurosport 2
TV Slovenia 2 (in case Celje play)

Final
21 October 2007, 15:30hrs
Eurosport
TV Slovenia 2

Read more about Champions Trophy on the website of the event and follow our coverage on ehfCL.com.