15.09.2013, 09:13
Thriller in Klaipeda, easy wins for Ankara

ROUND REVIEW: Seven teams joined the list of the EHF Cup Qualification Round 2 participants over the weekend. The last side to make the way from the Round 1 will be known on Tuesday as Maccabi Tyrec Tel Aviv host both legs against HC Lovćen Cetinje in Israel on Monday and Tuesday.

Thriller in Klaipeda, easy wins for Ankara

All but one teams are confirmed for the Qualification Round 2 of the EHF Cup after seven more teams followed the last week's steps of HC Brest Meshkov and HBC Ronal Jičín from the first round. Sporta Hlohovec, Klaipeda Dragunas, Fyllingen Bergen, Grundfos Tatabánya, Haukar Hafnarfjördur, BB Ankara Spor and Bregenz Handball cruised to the next stage.

The list will be completed only on Tuesday as Maccabi Tyrec Tel Aviv host both legs against HC Lovćen Cetinje in Israel on Monday and Tuesday. The first leg of the second round is scheduled for 12-13 October, the second leg will follow one week later.

The most tight encounter of the second leg was played in Lithuania as Klaipeda Dragunas managed to beat Luxembourgish Handball Kaerjeng only by one goal on the aggregate score. After the first leg draw (30:30), Dragons won 27:26 in the second leg on the home court. Romania's Stiinta Municipal Dedeman Bacau will be the next hurdle for Klaipeda.

Otmar's chase stopped

TSV Otmar St. Gallen was well on the way to erase eight-goal deficit against Sporta Hlohovec (21:29) as they led by five moments before the break (17:12). However, they could not maintain the pace in the second half and the 31:28 win of the Swiss team was far from enough for eliminating their Slovak opponents. Hlohovec will meet Borac m:tel Banja Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round 2.

Other encounters mostly followed the first leg pattern as Grundfos Tatabánya underlined their home victory (30:22) over Achilles Bocholt with another win (35:30), this time in Belgium. The Hungarian  side will face Sweden's Lugi HF.

Fyllingen started the second leg against Pölva Serviti with a three-goal cushion brought from Estonia and underlined their supremacy with a 32:22 result. Nordic rivals Mors-Thy Handbold  from Denmark now await the Norwegian outfit.

The road to the next stage was even more comfortable for Bregenz Handball as Austrian team won the first leg in Kosovo 28:22 and added more goals to their final aggregate victory on Saturday (35:28). Bregenz will play against last season's quarter-finalists RK Maribor Branik from Slovenia.

Double joy in Iceland and Turkey

Both Haukar and Ankara used their double home advantage as good as it gets. Icelandic side beat twice Netherlands' OCI-Lions on Iceland (36:33 and 30:18), while both clashes of the team from the Turkish capital resulted in two lopsided victories over London GD (44:14, 38:18).

Haukar will meet Portugal's SL Benfica, while Ankara's scoring skills will be put to a tough test by Chambéry Savoie HB, last season's EHF Champions League participants and the recent winners of the French Champions Trophy.

Sigurbergur Sveinsson from Haukar and Ismet Yilmaz share the best scorer of the round title as both have gathered combined 17 goals, shooting respectively 12 and five.

Further information
Find all results of the Qualification Round 1 matches here and pairings of the Qualification Round 2 here

TEXT: EHF / br