Chambéry succeed, Montpellier out

The quarter-finals of the “Coupe de la Ligue” took place in France last weekend. This stage saw the introduction of Montpellier and Chambéry, the two French representatives in the VELUX EHF Champions League, to the competition.

After four games without a victory in the league and in Europe, Chambéry were back in business with a 29:26 win over Toulouse. Centre back Edin Bašić played well and scored 10 goals.

Goalkeeper Cyril Dumoulin gave his analysis on the French TV channel Sport + “Everything was not perfect. But we won and it’s great to have a victory after our difficult period. Mentally, it’s a relief.”

Meanwhile, Montpellier, the 2011 “Coupe de la Ligue” champions, were eliminated by Dunkerque 27:34.

Despite 10 goals from William Accambray and 8 from Mathieu Grébille, Montpellier were unable to put an end to their poor run. This is the first time in the history of the competition that Montpellier will not attend the competitions Final Four.

Elsewhere in the competition, the noticeable first defeat of the season for PSG Handball came against HBC Nantes. Nantes achieved this exploit after extra-time, 36:35. In the other quarter-final, Sélestat beat Créteil 34:19.

The “Coupe de la Ligue” 2012 Final 4 will take place in Toulouse on the 8 and 9 December 2012.

When the European premier club competition resumes with Round 5 of the Group Phase, Chambéry will host Slovenian side RK Gorenje Velenje in Group C on Sunday 18 November as Montpellier will pay a visit to Niš, Serbia, where they will face the Serbian champions from RK Partizan on the same day.