25 teams from 17 countries proceed to EHF European Cup Women round 3

• HB Dudelange were an easy challenge for the 2020/21 champions Costa del Sol Malaga, who won the double-header on home ground 79:25 (42:14, 37:11); Portuguese international Joana Resende scored six goals in each of the two matches
• 48 was the highest number of goals scored in one match in round 2, netted by Swiss side Yellow Winterthur in the 48:29 victory against KHF Shqiponja from Kosovo, ahead of the 47:29 victory of HK Slovan Duslo Sala against ZRK Krivaja
• a 30:24 win on home ground was not enough for the Slovak side HC DAC Dunajská Streda to eliminate the 2023/24 champions ATTICGO Bm Elche; the Spanish club won the first leg 31:21, and not even seven goals by Valéria Policarpo Santos in the return leg could help Dunajská Streda
• Handball Kaerjeng took the closest aggregate win in the double-header at home against Greek side Anagennisi Artas — the hosts won the first leg 24:19, but then lost 30:26 on Sunday to reach round 3 with a one-goal margin; Kaerjeng's Teodora Galic scored 14 goals overall, while Eleni Prokopidou stood out with 13 strikes in the second leg for the Greek club
• a 27:24 win in the second leg was also not enough for Selfoss from Iceland against AEK Athens, after losing the first encounter 32:26; Erika Zeneli was AEK’s match winner with eight goals
• H.V. Quintus were the record-winners of the first round, dominating in the double-header on home ground against Cyview Developers Latsia, 84:18 on aggregate, and even keeping the visitors under 10 goals in the second leg (43:6); Joni Salerno’s 83:39 aggregate win against KHF Ferizaj was the second-biggest gap
• the draw for round 3 will be held on Tuesday 7 October in Vienna and will also include the seven teams pre-qualified for the next stage

Istogu and PAOK win Greek-Kosovo duels

KHF Istogu are the only of the four clubs from Kosovo that made it to round 3, winning both matches in the double-header on home ground against Greek side AEP Panorama, 67:59 on aggregate. The 39:31 in the first leg on Saturday was already decisive, and on Sunday a 28:28 draw was enough for Istogu to proceed to the next phase.

The second Greek-Kosovo derby saw the opposite outcome: A.C. PAOK made it to round 3 after beating KHF Samadrexha twice on home ground (38:28, 34:20). Sanja Premovic for the PAOK and Tina Hetemi for Samadrexha scored 11 goals each in the first leg. 

Photos © HK Slovan Duslo Sala (main), A.C. PAOK (in-text)