Portuguese teams dominate in Men’s Challenge Cup Quarterfinals

Two Portuguese and one Romanian team are set to head for the semi-finals of the Men's Challenge Cup after the first legs in three out of the four quarter-final ties were played over the weekend.

Liberty Seguros ABC/UMinho, who played in the first EHF Champions League final back in the 1993/94 season as ABC Braga, made a huge step towards the semi-final in Finland on Saturday.

They defeated Käsipalloseura Riihimäen Cocks ry 27:22 (14:10).

The second Portuguese team left in the competition, S. L. Benfica from Lisbon, produced even a more confident performance.

They recorded a 37:29 away victory against Polish side KS Azoty-Pulawy who were in the Challenge Cup Semi-final last season – however, it is fair to say that a repetition of this feat seems unlikely following the defeat againt S.L. Benfica.

The third team that is already one step closer to the semi-finals is Handbal club Odorhei from Romania who beat Ukrainian side ZTR Zaporozhye away 26:18 on Sunday.

The second leg matches will take place on Saturday and Sunday, 21/22 March. The fourth quarter-final will be played in a double-header between Norwegian club Stord Handball and Israeli Ramat Hashron HC also on that weekend.