Danish coaches in Norwegian-German duel

The deciding battle for a place in Group C of the Women's EHF Champions League will be a Norwegian-German duel. Byåsen Trondheim and HC Leipzig are the teams in the final in Qualification Group 1 Sunday in the Trondheim Spektrum. Saturday, Byåsen won the Norwegian encounter against Tertnes Bergen narrowly 21:20, while Leipzig defeated BNTU-BelAZ Minsk Region more convincingly by 29:24.

The two finalists have a quite curious thing in common, as both teams have Danish coaches in charge. While Thomas Ørneborg is head coach in Leipzig, Claus Leth Mogensen is new in the head coach seat by Byåsen.

Women's EHF Champions League Qualification, Group 1:

semi-finals:

Byåsen Trondheim vs Tertnes Bergen 21:20 (6:7)

Byåsen are ready for the final, but the meeting between last season's number two and three in Norway became tighter at the end, than it seemed during most of the second half.

Spectators in the Trondheim Spektrum saw a low-scoring first half with changing leads and a one goal lead at half time for the visitors from Bergen.

Early in the second half, Tertnes even got up by two, but through six goals in succession, Byåsen changed a 10:8 deficit into a 14:10 lead, and as this lead was increased to 19:13 and 20:14, the match seemed to be decided.

However, Tertnes found new resources and got as close as 21:20 with less than a minute left, at which point they even had the ball, and in the dying seconds their Norwegian international Linn Gossé had the chance to secure her team extra time. However, former Norwegian international Terese Pedersen in the Byåsen goal saved her attempt.

“We got a little nervous towards the end, so the win is really a relief. It is a bit difficult for us to win this kind of matches at the moment, so we should be really happy about this,” Byåsen coach Claus Mogensen told the Norwegian newspaper Adresseavisen after the win.

Tonje Nøstvold was Byåsen's most scoring player with 8 goals, while Linn Goss´s scored 7 times for Tertnes.

HC Leipzig vs BNTU-BelAZ Minsk Region 29:24 (16:9)

Had the match between Byåsen and Tertnes had a nail-biting finish, there was not nearly as much tension, when last season´s runners-up in Germany, Leipzig, and Belarusian champions Minsk took the floor in possession.

Leipzig had the match more or less under control from the start, although Minsk offered fine resistance, particularly through a quite competent backcourt line. However, Jule Plöger in the Leipzig goal made an excellent performance and played her part in her team taking the lead from the beginning and increasing the lead throughout the first half.

In the second half, Leipzig got as much as eight goals ahead a few times, and even though Minsk managed to reduce the gap towards the end and even got as close as being only three goals down at 22:19, the German win was never really in danger.

Karolina Kudłacz scored 7 times for Leipzig, while Liubov Arishina from Minsk became top scorer of the match, hitting the net 9 times.

Sunday, Tertnes and Minsk will meet in the match for the third place in the group at 15.30. At 18.00, then, Byåsen and Leipzig enter the Trondheim Spektrum for the deciding match for the ticket to the Group Matches.