15.09.2008, 10:20
Granitas-Karys return to CL

The Lithuanians qualify for the Champions League with away goals after two draws made against Brest.

Granitas-Karys return to CL

After two years, Lithuania will have representative in CL group matches again. After ties against Meshkov Brest 27:27 and 32:32, Kaunas qualified.

Best scorers Mochalov and Malasinskas

In front of 1 000 spectators in Kaunas, the first match ended 27:27 (11:16).

The decisive factor for the home team was good 7-meter shooting (7/7). Despite constant pressure from the very first minute coming from Meshkov, Granitas did not break and equalised at the end.

Granitas’ Aidenas Malasinskas scored 11 goals, Cibulskis 7 and Tomas Kraucevicius 5.

On the other side, Grigory Blagonadezhdin and Andrej Mochalov scored 5 goals each for the Belarus champions.

The second match in Brest offered even more excitement. The result at the break was 14:15 and the match ended again with a tie, 32:32.

The best scorer was left winger Andrej Mochalov with 14 goals; Grigory Blagonadezhdin scored 6. The 21-year old Bernatonis Rolandas managed to score 7 goals for the Lithuanians, Aidenas Malasinkas 6, Kraucevicius Tomas 5, Andrious Zigelis and Jarukas Valdas 4 goals each.

CL start in Stockholm

The best result of Kaunas in the European competitions was a CL 1/8 finals in 1995 and 1996 so far. This time the Lithuanian club will start the CL season in Group A with Celje Pivovarna Lasko, Hammarby and Chambery Savoie HB. In the first round Kaunas will travel to Sweden.

TEXT: Ivan Ambros