Brest to host Group 1, Hard welcomes Group 2

The European Handball Federation has decided on two out of three venues for the VELUX EHF Champions League qualification tournaments. Brest, Belarus has been confirmed to host Group 1, while Hard, Austria to welcome Group 2.

The Group 3 venue is still open, but the decision is due to be made in the upcoming days.

The Group 1 qualification tournament will be played in the Sportshall Victoria in Brest (3,500 seats) as the home team HC Meshkov will encounter the new Dutch champions Targos Bevo HC in the semi-final, while Slovakia's Tatran Presov will meet HC Vojvodina from Serbia.

The semi-final games will take place on Saturday, 6 September followed by the third place match and the final on Sunday, 7 September.

The winner of this group will qualify for the group phase and will play in Group A together with THW Kiel from Germany, Croatia's HC Zagreb, Spain's Naturhouse La Rioja, HC Metalurg from FYR Macedonia and PSG Handball from France.

The Austrian champions Alpla HC Hard will play hosts to the Group 2 tournament in the Sporthalle am See with a capacity of 2,300 spectators. The hosts will face FC Porto from Portugal in the semi-final, while Ukrainian title holders Motor Zaporozhye will take on Italy's Junior Fasano.

The semi-final matches in this group are scheduled for Friday, 5 September, the third place match and the final follow on Saturday, 6 September.

The winner will secure a ticket in Group D with Vive Targi Kielce from Poland, Dunkerque HB Grand Littoral from France, Kadetten Schaffhausen from Switzerland, Hungarian Pick Szeged and Denmark's Aalborg Handball.

The exact qualification playing times will be confirmed by the EHF/EHF Marketing in due time.