On Friday and Saturday, six matches were played in qualification round 2 of the EHF European League Women – and five teams confirmed their progression to qualification round 3.

In the only double-header of the weekend, MKS Zaglebie Lubin had no problems against Switzerland's LC Brühl Handball, winning 35:19 and 33:24.

• goalkeeper Monika Maliczkiewicz shone for Lubin on Friday with a 48 per cent save rate (15 saves), while her teammate Adrianna Gorna stood out with 11 goals on Saturday
• following a 28:27 win at TUSSIES Metzingen, HSG Blomberg-Lippe won the home leg of the German derby 28:24
• Norway's Tertnes Bergen reached round 3 after they were again too strong for ZORK Jagodina, 24:16
• five more second-leg matches will be played on Sunday
• the round 3 draw will take place on Monday 25 October in Vienna; the matches are scheduled for 13/14 and 20/21 November

Magura and Molde through despite home defeats

Some ties in qualification round 2 featured very close and dramatic fights. After a 27:26 away win at DHK Banik Most, Magura Cisnadie hoped to earn another victory in Romania, but lost 26:25 and only scraped through via the away goals rule.

A similar story happened to the Norwegian side Molde Elite, who were looking to finish the job on home court after beating Thüringer HC 35:32 in Germany. Lamprini Tsakalou's 10 goals and Rinka Duijndam's 16 saves lifted THC to a 28:26 win, so Molde needed some good luck to proceed to the next stage courtesy of a one-goal aggregate victory.