Champions Cup 2024 gets underway; eight teams stay unbeaten

Women’s competition: 

• Four teams have stayed unbeaten on the shores of Porto Santo after two intense days; current titleholders, the Danish Beachhandball Dream, Beach Unicorns Hannover, GRD Leça - Love Tiles and Black Lake Beach have won all matches played 
• Three of those teams, except Hannover, haven't even lost a single set, making sure everyone stays alert for what is to come on Saturday and Sunday
• Head-to-head was a decisive factor in group B for the main round qualification where Os Tigres, Normandie and WON ended up with the same amount of points after three matches played; Beach Unicorns topped the group, Tigres were placed second in the end, Normandie third and WON lost the race for the title
• Group D saw the familiar faces from Szentendrei continuing their Porto Santo adventure in the consolation round after a disappointing 0-3 series loss in the group phase; Sand Devil Youngsters snatched a valuable shootout win against Szentendrei that brought them to the main round
• The race for the top scorer of the competition is on with the silver EURO medallist from 2023 and Black Lake's ace, Meike Kruijer topping the standings with 77 points; right behind her is Hannover's Celine Männich with 70 while the first EHF Excellence Awards Player of the Year (2023) and Almeria's most recognizable player, Asun Batista, is third with 66 points

Men’s competition: 

• The battle for the trophy is strong on the men's side too, where Rødby Beach Boys, winners of the 2023 edition, will have a tough task of defending the title as the competition seems more equal than in the years before
• Apart from Rødby, Escola de Formação de Espinho - Os Tigres / LEVEL, GRD Leça - Spar and Nazaré BHT have stayed unbeaten
• The only team that has a track record of 100 per cent is the strong side Leça who stormed through the competition without a lost set 
• 2022 winners, Polish team BHT Petra Plock, has had a bumpy road in the group phase winning only one match, against BHV Wasserschlos with 2-0 (20:6, 20:13) in sets for a narrow getaway into the main round
• The second competition day ended with a true beach delicacy, a shootout between Os Tigres and HÍR-SAT BHC where details played a crucial role; coaching mastermind Hugo Madera led Os Tigres to a 2:1 (19:18, 14:15, 9:8) win to seize the day
• Two Brazilian internationals, Gil Pires and Bruno Oliveira, multiple world champions, have joined the Portuguese sides, Tigres and Nazaré respectively; Tigres' Pires is third in the scorer rankings with 74 points
• Aarhus Beach's Jakob Merrild is on top of the scorer list after two playing days, scoring 43 goals (84 points) and closely followed by Algeciras' Julio Garcia with 82 points 

The competition resumes on Saturday, 12 October, at 9:00 CEST with the remaining women's main round matches. A full schedule of women's competition is available HERE, and men's can be seen HERE. 

Live scores and updates of all the matches can be reached HERE.