Dramatic return leg set up as first teams secure Last 16 tickets

Förthof UHK Krems and RK Partizan AdmiralBet delivered a ravishing battle on Saturday evening. The visitors from Serbia got off to a better start, leading throughout the first 10 minutes. The following 20 minutes were dominated by goalkeepers on both sides and technical faults, which kept adding up. The hosts made fewer mistakes to take a 12:10 lead at the break. Partizan always had an answer, even erasing a three-goal deficit during the second half. It was close until the very last seconds when Marian Teubert won the match for the Austrian side, scoring four seconds before the buzzer, making it 25:24. This will be an intense return leg in Serbia next Saturday.

• Pölva Serviti and MRK Krka go into the second leg with a two-goal advantage; Estonian champions beat Besiktas at home 26:24 in a goalkeeper showcase as Eston Varusk (16 saves) and Matej Ašanin (17 saves) were nearly unbeatable; Slovenian side Krka beat RK Porec 23:21 in Croatia, relying on a better shooting efficiency at 68 per cent compared to Porec’s 54
• Runar Sandefjord beat RK Celje Pivovarna Laško in dominating fashion 41:28; it was close until the 20th minute (8:7), Runar went on a 10:2 scoring run to close the first half; the Norwegian side recorded 10 more saves than Celje and posted a stunning 76 per cent shot efficiency
• SSV Brixen Handball comfortably secured their ticket to the Last 16; the Italian side beat HK FCC Mesto Lovosice in Czechia 66:55 on aggregate; left back Tomas Valentin Canete (17 goals) and goalkeeper Maxym Voliuvach (29 saves) stood out for Brixen
• former EHF Challenge Cup winners Diomidis Argous beat ØIF Arendal 59:52 on aggregate in their double-header in Greece
• Drammen HK beat RK Leotar Trebinje twice in Bosnia and Herzegovina to secure their Last 16 ticket with a 65:51 on aggregate; after a close first leg (33:30), the Norwegian side dominated the second leg by forcing many technical faults and efficiently using their fast break chances; Drammen goalkeeper Oscar Larsen Syvertsen had 15 saves (51 per cent) in the 32:21 second leg win
• Andris Celminš scored 12 goals in Mistra’s first leg against RK Jeruzalem Ormoz; despite being the third-best scorer in a single match this weekend, his side lost 30:34 at home and have to mount a comeback in Slovenia next weekend; Sabbianco Anorthosis Famagusta’s Chrysanthos Tsanaxidis and Eleftherios Seirekidis topped Celminš's goal tally with 14 and 13 goals, respectively, to lead their team to a 37:28 win against Pfadi Winterthur Handball

© Pölva Serviti

HC Motor keep calm in fiery last minutes

There was not much separating HC Motor and HC Izvidac in their first leg match on Sunday. The visitors had the better start, leading 7:3 after six minutes. HC Motor responded in the middle of the first half, leading 13:10 temporarily. After Luka Sevic scored to make it 13:13 after 23 minutes, it was close until the very end. The Bosnian side led going into the final 3:30 minutes. Yet, a 3:1 run with two goals from HC Motor centre back Vitalii Horovy and two saves from Nazar Chudinov, who had 14 in total, decided the match for the home side. Going into the return leg with a score of 33:32, there is still all to play for next week.