12.10.2012, 03:20
Women´s Cup Winners´ Cup Round 2 preview

Three out of four last season´s semi-finalists play in the Women´s EHF Champions League this season.

Women´s Cup Winners´ Cup Round 2 preview

After they failed in the Women´s EHF Champions League Qualification last month four national champions are about to take up a new challenge. The journey of title holders of Turkey, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Switzerland starts in the opening round of the Cup Winners´ Cup.

In the first leg of the Round 2 during the upcoming weekend (13-14 October) Muratpasa Belediyesi SK Antalya face Croatia´s Lokomotiva Zagreb and SERCODAK Dalfsen will be hosted in Cyprus by SPE Strovolos, while Iuventa Michalovce encounter Britterm Veselí nad Moravou, their well-known rivals from the joint Slovak-Czech interleague. LC Brühl meet HC Gomel from Belarus only next weekend 20-21 October twice on the home court in St. Gallen.

Two teams will celebrate their tickets to Round 3 on Sunday as Switzerland´s Yellow Winterthur accepted the double match proposal of Izmir BSB SK from Turkey and Portugal´s ADA Colegio Joao de Barros will travel to Poland for two matches on the home court of the EHF Cup 2001 winners SPR Lublin.

In total 16 teams will enter the Round 2, with another 16 outfits waiting in the Round 3. Four more participants will join the competition´s Last 16 from the Women´s EHF Champions League after all four third placed teams of the Group Matches final standings will be redirected to the Cup Winners´ Cup.

After two years of rule of FTC Rail Cargo Hungaria in the Cup Winners´ Cup there will be a change on the throne, since FTC together with runners-up from Viborg HK and semi-finalists from Dinamo Volgograd play the Women´s EHF Champions League this season. Only one last season´s semi-finalist missed the party in the European top-flight after HC Leipzig did not succeed in the Wild Card tournament in September. As a seeded team the German club will join the Cup Winners´ Cup in the Round 3.

Further information
Follow the results of the of the Women´s Cup Winners´ Cup Round 2 here

TEXT: EHF / br