15.01.2022, 09:30
Viborg win despite Granlund's heroics

GROUP D REVIEW: The Danish side, who had been seeded directly into the group stage, opened their campaign with a victory

It was the first match in the group stage of the 2021/22 EHF European League Women for both teams, after both had their round 1 matches postponed.

Viborg, who had been seeded directly into the group phase and therefore played their opening game in the entire tournament, had the upper hand and defeated Chambray Touraine Handball 27:24.

GROUP D
Chambray Touraine Handball (FRA) vs Viborg HK (DEN) 24:27 (11:17) 

• Chambray's Rikke Granlund recorded 11 saves in the first half, limiting Viborg to a 53 per cent shot efficiency
• despite her heroics, Viborg had the match under control and led by six goals at half-time
• the French team, who played their first ever group match in the European club competitions, improved after the restart and closed the gap to 22:19 with 10 minutes to go, but Viborg weathered the storm
• Chambray's Jovana Stoiljkovic became top scorer of the match with 10 goals
• Line Haugsted and Laerke Pedersen netted six times each for Viborg

Viborg have more experience

While Granlund stopped 18 shots for a 40 per cent save rate, but even with her teammate Stoiljikovic shining in attack, their impact did not prevent Chambray from losing.

Viborg, whose 10 players scored at least one goal, were better and more experienced as a team. The three-time EHF Champions League winners are seen as one of the favourites of the EHF European League Women, and they claimed two well-deserved points.

TEXT: EHF / Sergey Nikolaev