19.06.2015, 02:10
National champions of Europe - Men Part 5: North-East

FEATURE: Review of the men's national leagues in Europe. The fifth part of the series takes a closer look at the North East: Finland, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova.

National champions of Europe - Men Part 4: North-East

The domestic leagues have come to an end and we now approach the draws of the 2015/16 European season, starting with the Men's EHF Champions League draw on 26 June. In six parts, the spotlight is shone on each of the national champions and their path to glory. The fifth part consists of teams from Finland, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova.

Finland – Käsipalloseura Riihimäen Cocks ry

After copying the European effort from last season by reaching the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup, Riihimäen Cocks went on to take back the Finnish championship.

The championship play-off in Finland are played best out of five, and in between matches in the Baltic League as well as quarter-finals in the Challenge Cup, Cocks managed to defeat BK-46 from Karis clearly in only three matches.

In the semi-final, where Cocks still had to concentrate on Baltic League matches as well, they needed four matches to eliminate Atlas, before they were ready for the finals against their more or less eternal rivals from Dicken.

The rivals from Helsinki did not turn out to be that big a challenge this time. Cocks needed just three matches to call themselves champions again.

The first leg at home was won as clearly 32:24, and after another clear win away to days later, 22:17 this time. In the third and closest match of the final series, Cock won 26:25 and were able to celebrate the championship with their home crowd.

Belarus - HC Meshkov Brest

After the bankrupcy of Dinamo Minsk in February 2014, HC Meshkov Brest seemed to be the only major force in Belarusian handball. In the end, the team led by Zeljko Babic lived up to expectations and clinched the seventh title overall and second in a row.

But their way to the gold medals was not always smooth. As Brest was busy playing in the VELUX Champions League and SEHA League, the team's participation in the national championship started from the second stage. HC Meshkov lost there just once, to SKA Minsk, and predictably took the first place.

In the play-off semi-finals, Babic's team easily beat Kronon Grodno in two games. But the final best-of-three series against SKA was much more breathtaking. In the first match in Minsk, HC Meshkov Brest lost by nine goals (24:33). Just after that, the club owner Alexander Meshkov lodged an appeal, claiming that SKA leader Barys Pukhousky, who had returned home from Hungary's Csurgo just a few weeks before, was not eligible to play.

The protest was declined, but the resulting scandal did not prevent Brest from coming back on home court. Having won the second game 29:26, they went on the win the decisive third match in the penalty shootout after a 26:26 draw at full-time.

Russia - Chekhovskie Medvedi

Medvedi continue to dominate the Russian handball, having won the 14th champion title in a row. For the last two years, they have lost a number of players due to financial problems, but the experienced head coach Vladimir Maximov knows how to bring trophies to Chekhov.

It certainly helps that he can still rely on a few experienced players. The captain Dmitry Kovalev won the national title for the 12th time, the goalkeeper Oleg Grams 11th or Alexander Chernoivanov 9th.

There is no play-off in the Russian Superleague, and the champion is determined after a regular season. It is held in two stages: first all 12 teams play against each other, and later they are divided into two groups competing for places 1-6 and 7-12.

Maximov's team were leading after the first stage, and they had no big worries thereafter, having lost only once. In the end, they were crowned champions two games before the finish, leaving the main rival Permskie Medvedi ten points behind.

Ukraine - Motor Zaporozhye

In the recent years, Motor have become a dominant force in the Ukrainian handball. This season, the team retained their national title, having won it for the third time in a row — and third overall.

Motor faced some tough competition from ZTR, another team from Zaporozhye, which have previously won the championship as many as 14 times. The decisive derby between the two rivals took place on 28 May. After losing the first half, Motor managed to finally win 31:27.

There was some turbulence at Motor in the middle of the season as the team changed their coach. Sergey Bebeshko decided to step down following some poor results in the VELUX Champions League, and he was replaced by Mykola Stepanets who managed to complete the work started by his predecessor.

Lithuania - Dragunas Klaipeda

Dragunas once again demonstrated their skill and mental strength, winning the national title for the sixth time. The team from Klaipeda is used to getting national titles, but this victory was special and in a way even historic as it was achieved at the new Svyturys arena.

The team led by Arturas Juskenas, who is also a national coach of Lithuania, has lost just one game during the whole season. That happened in the first round, which still was won by Dragunas, leaving Almeida-Stronglasas Alytus in the second place.

In the play-off, Dragunas had it easy. They beat SM Rankininkas in the quarter-final and VHS Sviesa in the semi-final without difficulty, and in the final they faced their main rival from Alytus. In the best-of-five series, Juskenas' charges needed just three games to finish it off and celebrate the title.

Latvia - TENAX Dobele

The team from Dobele, a small town with the population of about 10,000 people, retained their national title. Moreover, TENAX won all the league games they played, both in the regular season and the play-off.

In the regular season, TENAX collected a perfect record, getting 42 points in 21 games and leaving the second-placed Celtnieks/LSPA nine points behind. Following that, they were automatically given a spot in the semi-finals, skipping the quarter-final stage.

In the semi-finals, Dobele faced some resistance on the part of HK Orge/Mirandum, but two victories 31:27 and 33:32 proved enough to advance to the final. And there Celtnieks did not manage to stop TENAX either, having lost all three games. The team from Riga missed their best chance in the third match when they were three goals up a minute and a half before the full-time. But Dobele managed to save the day and went on to win the game in a penalty shootout.

Estonia - Polva Serviti

Since Estonia regained independence in 1991, there have always been just two main contenders for the champion title. HC Kehra has won the league 11 times, while their arch rivals Polva Serviti have 10 gold medals on their account. Only three times in history other teams managed to get the trophy — Maret Valga Sport in 1992, Viimsi HC in 1997 and Chocolate Boys in 2005.

During the last five years, the champions have been strictly alternating. While HC Kehra won the league in 2012 and 2014, Polva did it in 2011 and 2013. This regularity made the Serviti team the favorite in the 2015 finals, in which — no surprise — they faced Kehra.

The team coached by Kalmer Musting did live up to expectations, although the final fight was really tight. Polva needed five games to win the series 3:2, and in the decisive fifth match they needed an extra time to clinch the 34:30 victory.

Moldova – PGU Tiraspol

It’s been a record-breaking season for PGU Tiraspol. The Pedagogical University’s team has won their 15th champion trophy, a record in Moldovan handball, with an immaculate performance.

Even if Olimpus-85-USEFS Chişinău, the team who was also playing in the Ukrainan championship, was the favourite, Tiraspol won 21 of their 22 matches played this season, including the decisive one, scheduled in the 20th matchday.

In the game played in Tiraspol, PGU took the lead early in the first half and never looked back, containing the comeback mounted by the Chișinău side. In the end, PGU won by a one-goal margin, 29:28, which was enough to bring the 15th champion trophy for the Transnistrian side.

TEXT: Peter Bruun, Sergey Nikolaev, Adrian Costeiu / br