Gruppe A -------------------------------------------
IKAST DRAW AGAINST DUNAFERR IN HUNGARY
It was show down for the top spot in Group A of the Champions League in Dunaújváros between Ikast Bording and the Hungarian champions Dunaferr. In their first match, the Danish club won by 28-27, which meant that the home side needed a two-goal victory to reach the first place in the group.
Just like in the previous Champions League clashes this season, Pálinger showed excellent form. Ikast’s pivot, Broedsgaard was brilliant in creating opportunities for the back court players, but the visitors could not amass a significant lead as the home side’s keeper saved several of Milanovic’s and Andersen’s shots, and Touray also lost a few one-on-one battles with her. The Danish team’s defence was quite successful at preventing Radulovics from scoring, though left wing Vincze, pivot Bohus and playmaker Pigniczki remained prolific.
Conducted by Hammerseng, Ikast managed to increase the pressure on the home defence and they applied their other formidable weapon, the fast breaks, very well too. Dunaferr’s attacks began to falter; the premature shots were saved by Vojcic or blocked by the defenders. The visitors opened a substantial margin (8-12), some of which they maintained until halftime (11-14).
The tables soon turned after the break, as Dunaferr equalised in the 33rd minute by Ferling’s penalty shot (14-14). Keeping the momentum, the home side took the lead (16-15), but Bohus’ ankle injury set them back again. In addition, the visitors’ fast breaks and rundown attacks functioned very well, the brilliant wings, Daugaard and Touray scored at ease (20-25).
The last minutes of the clash brought nail-biting excitement as Dunaferr produced a 5-0 run and levelled the score (25-25). With three seconds to go, coach Kiss replaced Pálinger by a field player, but the visitors blocked Radulovics’ last shot.
Text: Joó Sándor
Gruppe B -------------------------------------------
EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR
Group B is still wide open after the fifth round. Viborg HK won 27-23 against Hypo Niederösterreich and defended the second place, but is equal on points with Volgograd. That means that nothing is settled in terms of which teams will end up in the quarter finals. Three teams could reach the first place, but also end up with a disappointing third place.
The Viborg-victory against Hypo on Saturday was historic. It is the first victory against Hypo for more than 7 years – and the first Viborg-victory on Danish soil ever!
It was a very close race until the middle of the second-half. Viborg remained only a short step ahead, and even lost the lead halfway through the first half. Hypo led 11-10, but soon after Viborg was in the lead again. Halfway through the game Viborg had the lead. 15-12.
The close clash continued in the second half, but only for ten minutes. At that time Anda Bilobrk had a two minute suspension and that kick started eight golden minutes for Viborg with playmaker Lotte Kiærskou as the leading player. She and Grit Jurack both scored seven times. With twelve minutes left Viborg had a six goal lead, 24-18. In the dying minutes the Austrian champions reduced the Viborg lead, and the match ended 27-23.
The match was primarily settled in the defence. For longer periods Viborg succeeded in keeping both Tanja Logvin and Gabriella Rotis out of grasp. But Hypo was as always smart and continued to show new openings. Anda Bilobrk and line player Simona Spiridon were everlasting threats.
The Danish defence expert Rikke Skov was a essential player for the Danish team: “It was a tough match – but a fair match with two very good teams. I was a bit nervous before the match, as it was extremely important that we has a win. Now we can reach the quarter-final ourselves and do not have to rely on other results.”
Text: Jens Ole Sorensen
Chancen auf Aufstieg ins Viertelfinale trotz Niederlage weiter intakt
Mit dem 23:27 in Viborg setzte es für den bisdahin ungeschlagenen Tabellenführer der Gruppe C Hypo NÖ die erste Niederlage in der Champions League. Dennoch haben es die Prokop-Schützlinge weiterhin in eigener Hand, den Gruppensieg bzw. den Aufstieg ins Viertelfinale zu realisieren. Die Ausgangssituation: Bei einem Sieg oder Unentschieden in Russland im letzten Gruppenspiel ist Hypo NÖ von der Tabellenspitze nicht zu verdrängen. Und selbst bei einer Niederlage mit einer Differenz bis zu sieben Toren steigen die Südstädterinnen hinter Viborg als Gruppenzweiter ins Viertelfinale auf. Der Gegner wäre entweder Dunaferr oder Ikast. Der Vorteil bei einem ersten Platz in der Gruppe: Das zweite Viertelfinalspiel findet zu Hause statt. Zurück zum Auswärtsspiel in Viborg, wo sich wieder einmal die Dänen als sehr "sportlich" erwiesen. Gellendes Pfeifkonzert beim Hallen-Betreten von unserer Mannschaft, etwas, was es im Europacup eigentlich nicht gibt - aber in Dänemark ticken die Uhren eben anders. Viborg hatte ja schon anlässlich der ersten Begegnung im Jänner in der Südstadt das traditionelle Bankett nach dem Spiel einfach abgesagt - ebenfalls einmalig in der Europacupgeschichte. Erschwert wurde der Heimflug unserer Mannschaft aus Dänemark dann noch durch Schneefall, der den kompletten Flugplan durcheinanderwirbelte. Somit landet unser Team erst heute Mittag mit 18stündiger Verspätung in Wien.
Viborg - Hypo NÖ 27:23 (15:12)
Tore: Logvin (6), Bilobrk (5), Rotis (4) Shynkarenko (4), Spiridon (3), Löwy (1).
ANOTHER DEFEAT FOR SORRY NORDSTRAND
Nordstrand looks to go through the group stage in the Champions League without taking a single point. On Saturday, the team suffered their fifth straight defeat.
Nordstrand always knew that they were drawn into a tough group, but they did not expect that they would still have no points after they had played five matches in Champions League.
In the clash against Dinamo AQUA Volgograd, the goalkeepers came into the spotlight. Both Heidi Tjugum for Nordstrand and Dinamo Volgograd’s Tatiana Alizar were in superb form. In the first half, Tjugum saved 9 of the guests 15 shots between the posts.
After the break, the Russians found their way past the Norwegian veteran and took control of the match. In the end, they won 23-19 and are now level points with Viborg.
If Viborg and Dinamo Volgograd both win their matches in the last round of the Group phase, then Viborg, Hypo Niederösterreich and Dinamo will end up with eight points a piece, and this will result in direct encounters that will decide who will advance to the next round.
Before the last matches Viborg has four points and +10 in goal difference, Hypo has four points and +3 in goal difference, while Dinamo has two points and -13 in goal difference.
Dinamo Volgograd still have a slim chance of qualifying for the next round, but with Viborg playing Nordstrand at home in their last match, they probably will have to win by at least nine goals against Hypo Niederösterreich to take second place in Group B.
Text: Stig Nygård
Gruppe C -------------------------------------------
WIN FOR KOMETAL DP SECURES ENTRY INTO NEXT ROUND
The Macedonian champions, Kometal DP Skopje, will continue into the next round in Champion League after securing their place amongst the best eight with a 32-20 (16-14) victory against HC “Motor” Zaporozhye. The former European Champions showed two different sides in regards to their performance and effectiveness.
For almost 30 minutes, Kometal DP Skopje, it was clear that the team was under serious pressure from the outsiders. Many mistakes were made, miss shots allowed the HC “Motor” to control the results. On several occasions, they managed to equalize. Even when Motor was down to only five field players, the still managed to score very easily. Borodina scored effortlessly from 9 meters and even an "aggressive defence" could not stop her. Zaporozhye’s wing player Zhanna Kashel scored 5 out of 5 when her chances arose.
"In the first half we missed many clear chances, played bad defence and allowed “Motor” to equalize several times. When you play at home, all players like to assert, especially in full sports hall. The team needed to show more spirit, concentration and certain realisation. In the first 30 minutes, there were many punctures in our defence,“ said Andriy Portnoy, coach of Kometal DP Skopje
When Kometal DP Skopje changed their defence from 3-2-1 to 5-1 and began to challenge the visitors more aggressively, things began to look up for the home team. Shortly after, Kometal increased their lead to 23-18 from 16-14; they were finally showing the ambition to win. Nataliya Borysenko was back in action, she saved five regular attempts, and one penalty shot. Yeliz Ozel and Olga Buyanova caused chaos to Motor's defence. Both were the "brains" between scoring and assisting.
In second half Kometal allowed Motor to score only six goals. After Kashelj scored in 44 min. (23-18), the Ukrainian players went 15 minutes without scoring. Anastasiya Borodina ended their dry spell in the 59th minute. Nevertheless, at this late stage in the game, defeat was inevitable.
"Everything we practice, we use in our game. Most important for us is that all players are healthy and can focus on the next game against Slagelse FH, this is the most important thing for us” said Portnoy.
The European Champions, Slagelse FH, are the next opponents for Kometal DP Skopje. This game will decide who will be at the top of Group C and who will manage to avoid Krim Ljubljana from Group D in the quarterfinal.
Portnoy confirmed his ambition to win in Denmark.
“This match will show who is better. We have beaten them already in Skopje, and traditionally we play well against Danish clubs. Last year we lost, but we held our own during the game. Our goal is to win in Denmark” - said Portnoy.
The Ukrainians arrived in Skopje with only 12 players. Six members of the team remained in Zaporozhye due to injuries.
Text: Goran Antevski
Gruppe D -------------------------------------------
KRIM »DESTROYED« DIN
In the 5th round match of the Women's Champion League's Group Matches Krim of Ljubljana and Din Nis met in Slovenia. Their first match at the beginning of January was a tie, so everyone expected a tough game where the winner would once again not be known until last minutes of the game. But it was not like that at all …
The host team Krim Mercator started once again in this match with a high tempo. They begun with defensive formation 5-1 and payed special attention to the best scorer in the CL Lilijana Knezevic who did not need free space, because she could still score without it. The handballers from Serbia and Montenegro were completely lost. Their throws towards goal were not successful. Only in rare cases were they able to penetrate Krim's agressive defence but there was one more »obstacle« - the goalkeeper Andrea Farkas who saved plenty of balls. In that way the Slovenian National Champions were able counterattack and score easily. In the 12th minute of the match, the result was 10:3 for Krim. In the first half, eight players from Ljubljana were able to score, on the other side only four of the Nis side were able to. Even though Svetislav Jovanovic' s team was working hard in defence they could not stop the three Ukrainians in Krim's team – Yatsenko, Vergelyuk and Siukalo - they were unstoppable. After the first 30 minutes of the match in front of 2000 Krim fans, it finished just as everyone in Slovenia wanted it to. It was 20:14 for Krim.
Krim was too good
Krim's coach Tone Tiselj who was - despite illness - able to lead his team- changed players on the court a lot. He gave the players who don't ususally make the starting line-up a chance to show what they are made of. So all 14 players got some minutes of play. The second half was similar to the first one. Krim was always far away from Din Nis. It was lucky for Serbian's that their capatin Knezevic managed to score more often in the first-half. Upto the end of match, she scored twelve times. It was obvious that none of others from Din were in mood on that rainy Saturday. In the fifth round match, the winner was known long before the final whistle was heard. Krim has reached the biggest advanatage in the match in the 51st minute when it was 34:23. Despite some mistakes made by the host players which was a consequence of playing and changing tactics, they won easily with 40:30. They reamin undefeated in the Champions League. Krim - with 10 points - has secured the first spot in group D, on the other side Din Nis will have to say goodbay to this year's EHF competitions.
Text: Maja Mastnak
SiOL-Sportal
ELDA QUALIFIES FOR THE NEXT ROUND!
Orsan Elda Prestigio got the point they needed against Tertnes to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.
After winning 33-25 against Tertnes in Bergen in their opening match of the Champions League, Orsan Elda Prestigio needed only one point in their home meeting with the Norwegians to secure their place in the next stage of the tournament.
Tertnes knew that only a win would be good enough to keep their Champions League-dream alive. In addition, the Norwegians got of to a flying start, leading 3-0 in Spain. However, the experienced home team came back and were leading for most of the match, but in the closing minutes, the nerves got to them.
Three minutes from the end, Tertnes were leading 28-26, only to see Orsan come back yet again and 15 seconds before the final signal, they equalized.
Tertnes got a last chance, but the free throw from Anne Petersen Waage ended in nothing.
Orsan Elda Prestigio will follow Krim Ljubljana to the next stage of the Champions League, while Tertnes now need at least a point from their home meeting with DIN Nis to take the third place in Group D and qualify for the Cupwinners Cup.
Hege Vikebö was the top scorer for Tertnes with nine goals and Silvana Ilic scoring seven goals for Orsan.
Text: Stig Nygård