Turkish delight at the start of the new season
Spor Toto SK and Beşiktaş secured a place in the EHF European Cup Men's round 2 after dominantly winning both legs against IFK Handball Helsinki and Donbas, respectively.
The Ankara-based club held a one-goal lead after the first leg (29:28) and set a tie vs. RK Budućnost Podgorica in the next round with another triumph (36:29) in the second leg despite playing both matches away in Finland. The Black Eagles confirmed a place in round 2 with a ruthless display and overall result of 84:49 across both legs against the Ukrainian side Donbas in Istanbul and will face KH Besa Famgas next.
- SKKP Handball Brno earned a six-goal win (28:22) in the first leg against HC ROBE Zubří in the Czech derby, led by the right back Luka Vukićević who scored eight goals
- after a thrilling draw (33:33) HC Berchem and HC Fivers WAT Margareten are going even in the second leg in Austria with Eric Damböck having an excellent match for the away side with nine goals from as many shots
- HC Dinamo Pančevo travels back to Serbia with an important three-goal lead (30:27) from the away trip at Handball Meran in Italy with the veteran left back, Duško Čelica, successfully finding the back of the net on eight occasions
- the Estonian side HC Tallinn squandered a six-goal lead in the second half and let Handball Kaerjeng mount a comeback to snatch a draw (26:26) in the first leg ahead of the return leg in Luxembourg next week
Goals galore earn the Turkish clubs a place in the next round
Özgür Sarak led Spor Toto SK in the next round with 15 goals over both legs against IFK Handball Helsinki, while Gökay Bilim and Enis Harun Hacioglu scored 11 goals each for Beşiktaş in the double-header against Donbas in Istanbul and rounded off the impressive performances by the Turkish teams over the weekend.
