Hypo end 13-year trophy drought

The long waiting is over for the Austrian powerhouse of European women's handball as Hypo Niederösterreich won the 2012/13 Cup Winners' Cup on Saturday late evening. Four-time EHF Champions League winners added the new trophy to their cabinet thirteen years after they had won the premier continental club competition for the last time so far. They beat Issy Paris Hand 31:21 in the second leg of the final and won the final battle for the trophy 61:43 on aggregate score.

2012/13 Women's Cup Winners' Cup Final, second leg:
Hypo NÖ vs Issy Paris Hand 31:21 (16:8)
First leg: 30:22.

The team of András Németh, who leaves Hypo after the end of this season, made the first huge step to the cup already in the first leg as they triumphed in the French capital 30:22. In the home match at Maria Enzersdorf their lead never got threatened by the participants of the EHF Champions League Wild Card Tournament. 

The reigning World Handball Player of the year Alexandra Do Nascimento was the top scorer of the second leg with seven goals followed by her teammate Gorica Acimovic with six and Charlotte Mordal from Issy with five.

"Although we committed many mistakes we managed to win at the end. A dream has come true for us," Do Nascimento said after the match for Austrian media. The Brazilian right wing finished at the second rank in the scoring race of this season with 58 goals. Only the Ukrainian sharpshooting left back Regina Shymkute from Rostov Don managed to score more (64 goals).

The third one was another Hypo player Acimovic with 45 goals. "This title means really a lot for me. The second match with Issy could have looked like an easy ride for us, but we had to fight hard," Acimovic underlined.

"It is always nice to be able to say farewell with a success like this," Németh said.