ROUND PREVIEW: This weekend’s European League Women qualification round 3 matches will complete the list of group stage participants, with eight tickets still at stake
Qualification round 3 of the EHF European League Women, which started last weekend, will be completed on Saturday and Sunday.
The only double header will take place in Romania, where H.C. Dunarea Braila will host Viborg HK, who reached the Women’s EHF Cup semi-finals in 2017/18 and 2018/19. Both matches on Saturday and Sunday will be streamed live on EHFTV.
- three French teams – Fleury Loiret, Paris 92 and Nantes Atlantique Handball – who all won first-leg home games, will now defend their advantage in away matches
- in the German derby, HSG Blomberg-Lippe will host Thüringer HC for the second-leg match after beating them away 31:27
- following a 27:27 draw in Spain, HC Zvezda will host Super Amara Bera Bera with the hope of joining fellow Russian teams Astrakhanochka, Kuban and Handball Club Lada in the group stage
- the ties Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK vs DVSC Schaeffler and DHK Banik Most vs Vaci NKSE will be decided in single matches on Saturday, in Kastamonu and Most, respectively. The game in Most will be streamed live on EHFTV
- the other double header scheduled for this weekend, between Storhamar Handball Elite and Alba Fehervar KC, was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions, so Storhamar are proceeding to the group phase
Nykøbing need a miracle
While Viborg hope to remain in the competition through to the late stages, fellow Danish side Nykøbing Falster Håndbold need a miracle on Sunday to proceed, after their 28:16 defeat at Paris 92 last week.
Of the three French sides, Paris have the best chance to proceed to the group stage, but Nantes Atlantique Handball also have a commanding advantage of seven goals to defend against SCM Gloria Buzau. Fleury Loiret Handball will have a harder time in Sweden following their 29:26 first-leg win against H 65 Höörs HK.
Group phase draw on Thursday, 26 November
This weekend's round 3 action will complete the line-up for the group phase of the EHF European League Women.
The draw for the group phase will take place on Thursday, 26 November 2020, at 11:00 CET at the EHF offices in Vienna.
TEXT:
EHF / Sergey Nikolaev