11.09.2017, 12:14
5 teams through on opening weekend

ROUND REVIEW: The new season of the Women's EHF Cup began with five double-headers and the first legs of three other ties

5 teams through on opening weekend

Five teams have already advanced to Qualification Round 2 of the Women's EHF Cup as a result of double-headers that took place at the weekend.

C.S.M. Roman were the first club to reach this goal. In competition’s opening game on Friday, they were much stronger than HZRK Grude of Bosnia (40:15), and the next day the Romanian team did not show any mercy either in the second leg (42:19).

Grude had already suffered two heavy defeats against Romanian opponents in the opening qualifying round last season as they lost to ASC Corona 2010 Brasov 43:16 and 40:17.

Vaci NKSE were even more prolific than C.S.M. in their double-header against Holon Handball Club as they scored overall 90 goals in two games on their home court in Vac. The Israeli team were defeated no less than 46:17 in the first leg on Saturday, and a day later, the Hungarian team destroyed their opponents once again, 44:18.

The Polish runners-up Metraco Zaglebie Lubin also played two games at home and defeated LK Zug Handball twice. The 13-goal victory in the first match (37:24) basically removed all questions, yet Lubin did not relax their approach on the next day and won even more comfortably, 43:23.

Zug's Sibylle Scherer was the top scorer of the game with 11 goals, yet her impact was not of much help.

Another Swiss team, LC Bruhl Handball, enjoyed a much more successful voyage to Kosovo where they won both times against KHF Prishtina, 34:11 and 32:15. In Round 2, the Swiss champion will face much stronger opposition, Zvezda Zvenigorod.

Byasen Handball Elite also secured a ticket to the next round where they are scheduled to play H.C.Dunarea Braila.

In Trondheim, the hosts somewhat struggled in the first leg against Kram Start Elblag and were leading by just one goal at half-time (15:14). However, Byasen won the game 34:29, and they were even more dominant on Sunday, which found reflection in the final score 28:18.

HSG Blomberg-Lippe and HB Sint-Truiden met just once at the weekend, with the second leg in Belgium to be a mere formality. Following a home 46:19 victory, Blomberg leave their rivals no realistic chance to go through.

Some other encounters were much closer. The Iberian derby in San Sebastian between Super Amara Bera Bera and Colegio de Gaia proved a real thriller. The visitors from Portugal were up 15:14 at half-time, yet ultimately Bera Bera seized the initiative and won by one goal (26:25) so everything will be decided in the second leg.

Things are quite open between Galytchanka and Morrenhof Jansen Dalfsen. The Ukrainian champions won 26:22 in the first match, so the Dutch side will have a fair chance to turn things around on home court.

TEXT: Sergey Nikolaev / ew