27.02.2020, 10:00
Battle for semi-final spots starts in Russia

QUARTER-FINAL PREVIEW: The eight remaining contenders for the Women’s EHF Cup 2019/20 will play the first leg of their quarter-final this weekend, with all four matches streamed live on ehfTV.com

Battle for semi-final spots starts in Russia

The Women’s EHF Cup quarter-final features eight teams from seven countries, with Denmark the only nations with two clubs left in the competition.

The first leg opens in Togliatti on Saturday, where Handball Club Lada will receive Odense Handball.

On Sunday, the other Danish team, Herning-Ikast Handbold, host CS Gloria 2018 Bistrita-Nasaud. Also, Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK face current title holders Siófok KC Hungary, while HC Podravka Vegeta are set to play against Thüringer HC, the only team that gathered the maximum 12 points in the group phase.

All four matches will be streamed live on ehfTV.com.

QUARTER-FINAL

Handball Club Lada (RUS) vs Odense Handbold (DEN)
Saturday 29 February, 14:00 CET, live on ehfTV.com

• Lada advanced from the group phase after winning their last match against another Danish team, Herning-Ikast (38:28)
• Lada’s Elena Mikhaylichenko is the competition’s leading scorer, with 67 goals
• on Tuesday Lada became the first team to snatch a point from Rostov-Don (31:31) in the Russian domestic league this season
• Odense topped group C with five wins in six matches and conceded the fewest goals of all teams in the group phase, 133

Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK (TUR) vs Siófok KC Hungary (HUN)
Sunday 1 March, 14:00 CET, live on ehfTV.com

• Kastamonu finished runners-up in group A with six points, edging DVSC on head-to-head results
• Kastamonu reached the EHF Cup semi-final two years ago
• title holders Siófok remained unbeaten in group B, with four wins and two draws
• Siofok scored the most goals of all teams in the group phase, 192

CS Gloria 2018 Bistrita-Nasaud (ROU) vs Herning-Ikast Handbold (DEN)
Sunday 1 March, 17:00 CET, live on ehfTV.com

• Bistrita have reached the quarter-final in their debut EC season
• in the group phase Bistrita exchanged victories with another Danish side, Odense, 25:19 and 25:23
• Herning-Ikast won group D with the lowest point total (seven) among all group winners
• Herning-Ikast’s Helene Fauske is the competition’s second-best scorer, with 63 goals

HC Podravka Vegeta (CRO) vs Thüringer HC (GER)
Sunday 1 March, 15:00 CET, live on ehfTV.com

• both teams met in the CL group matches last season, with each team winning the away game (28:26 for Podravka, 31:23 for THC)
• THC were the only team to win all six group matches this season
• Podravka had two draws with title holders Siófok in the group phase
• THC are missing Iveta Koresova (pregnancy) and Meike Schmelzer (broken foot)

TEXT: Sergey Nikolaev / ew