Ten teams secure main round spots at EHF Champions Cup

On the opening day of the competition, which brings together the best European beach handball clubs, each team faced two opponents in their group. This resulted in ten teams securing a place in the main round following their double wins at the start of the competition in Porto Santo, Portugal.

Men's competition 

• Four teams —  Aarhus Beach (group A), Alba Fehérvár (group B), GRD Leça - Spar (group C) and HÍR-SAT BHC (group D) — booked their spot in the next stage of the competition, after claiming two wins in their respective groups

• The defending champions, Nazaré BHT, had a shaky opening day; they overcame Hiekka Hauskaa, but fell short against Aarhus in a direct clash for top spot in the group

• Pablo Caro Relinque was the most efficient player for last year's runners-up, GRD Leça, who are enjoying a confident start to their trophy hunt

• The opening game on court 2 saw an upset by the debutants Alba Fehérvár, who shocked the 2025 third-placed 12 Monkeys Köln; the Germans bounced back in the second game against Swedish Kävlinge HK

• With a star-studded squad of players from the Hungarian national team, HÍR-SAT is traditionally a strong contender and aims to improve on last year's disappointing eighth place

• After day one, London Beach Handball's Jorge Nahuel Perez Baptista is top of the scoring board with 50 points

Women's competition 

• Six teams — CBMP Ciudad de Málaga (group A), The Danish Beach Handball Dream and GRD Leça - Love Tiles (group B), Hiekka Hauskaa (group C), Next Wave and Club Handbol Xàbia (group D) — collected two wins on the opening day and they are through into the main round

• Málaga came to Porto Santo with a mission to defend the throne, and so far, they have been living up to expectations, with the whole team playing as one

• In the absence of their star goalkeeper, Dalma Mátéfi, Red Velvet is struggling, and their hopes of repeating their podium performance at recent events have been shattered

• The 2024 champions, The Danish Beach Handball Dream, returned to the winning track at the Champions Cup, after missing out on a medal last year

• Debutants Hiekka Hauskaa and Next Wave are the ones to watch, having surprised the experienced sides in groups C and D in their first participation at the tournament

• Camilla Larsen Degn scored 41 points for Danish Dream, putting her at the top of the scoring charts after day one

The action continues on Friday, 16 October, at 10:00 CEST with the remaining 16 preliminary round matches, while Friday afternoon will see the first main round games. The full schedule for the women's competition is available here, and the schedule for the men’s competition can be found here.

All the matches are available to watch live on EHFTV, while live scores and updates of all the matches can be reached here.

Photos: kolektiff