14.11.2014, 10:50
National derbies in Denmark and Norway

ROUND PREVIEW: And entirely Danish and an entirely Norwegian encounter are on the menu in the third round of the Women's Cup Winners' Cup which starts this weekend.

National derbies in Denmark and Norway

At least one Danish and one Norwegian team will have to leave the Cup Winners' Cup already after the third round. That is a fact, as this round will see national encounters in both countries.

In the Arena Randers, Randers HK, who were in the main round of the Women's EHF Champions League as late as in the 2012/13 season, are receiving Danish league colleagues, HC Odense Sunday afternoon. Judging by the two teams' positions in the domestic league table, Randers should be favourites.

In Norway, Nordstrand Handball Elite and Tertnes Bergen are the two parties who are involved in an entirely national encounter. In the Oppsal Arena in Oslo, Nordstrand are playing at home in the first match Sunday evening. Tertnes ought to be favourites, but a 32:18 defeat to Glassverket IK in the Norwegian league during the week will not have boosted the self-confidence in the team from Norway's second largest city.

Having failed to qualify for the EHF Champions League Group Matches, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria will undoubtedly be eager to get far in the Cup Winners' Cup. Their first hurdle in that attempt will be ZORK Jagodina from Serbia. FTC are playing at home in Budapest in the first match Saturday afternoon.

Another team, who missed the Champions League this season, was WHC Radnicki Kragujevac. On Sunday evening, the Serbian team will have the chance to start a more successful journey through the Cup Winners' Cup, when they travel to Romania to play the first leg against U Alexandrion Cluj.

Cluj is not the only place in Romania, where there will be Cup Winners' Cup handball this weekend, though. In Roman, HCM Roman are taking on Skuru IK from Sweden, and it will be an optimistic Swedish team who show up in the North Eastern part of Romania.

“It is a tough, but not impossible task. We have a great feeling in the team after our matches so far this autumn," Skuru coach Anders Skogäng told the website of the Swedish Handball Federation.

Find all the fixtures of the Women's Cup Winners' Cup Round 3 here

TEXT: Peter Bruun / br