Chekhovskie medvedi finally started their EHF European League Men campaign this evening– the first time they have not been in the EHF Champions League since 2005.

And after directly qualifying through to the group phase, they opened with a win, against Vienna’s Fivers. The Austrian side had lost in Plock last week in their opener despite displaying some really interesting handball in the first half in Poland as they struggled to keep it up for 60 minutes, eventually losing 32:23.

Tonight they suffered their second defeat of the season in two identical halves, each won 16:15 by the visitors.

GROUP A

Fivers (AUT) vs Chekhovskie medvedi (RUS) 30:32 (15:16)

• Chekhov had not won an away game in European competition since December 2018, on a trip to Besiktas in Turkey
• The Russian side relied heavily on the trio of Sergei Kosorotov (8 goals), Alexander Kotov and Roman Ostashchenko (7 each)
• The visiting side saw a game-high five-goal lead at 30:25 in the 50th minute
• Fivers sit bottom of Group A with zero points

Sergei Kosorotov’s impressive start

He may only be 21, but Sergei Kosorotov represents the future of Russian handball. If Roman Ostashchenko and Alexander Kotov displayed their European experience tonight, the younger left-back was the one who impressed most.

Scoring three times in a row at the heart of the second half, he put Chekhov on the right track to victory. Two seasons ago, he scored 32 goals in 10 games in the EHF Champions League and he is already on his way to beat that record.