Herning-Ikast Handbold sealed third place at the Energi Viborg EHF Finals, clinching a hard-fought win against CS Minaur Baia Mare, 29:28, which needed a penalty shootout to decide the winners.
3/4 PLACEMENT MATCH
CS Minaur Baia Mare (ROU) vs Herning-Ikast Handbold (DEN) 28:29 (24:24)(12:14)
- the Danish side avenged the 31:33 defeat to CS Minaur last season in the 3/4 placement match at the EHF Finals Women 2021, which took place in Baia Mare
- Minaur showed grit and team spirit once again after coming back from a seven-goal deficit against Viborg in Saturday’s semi-final, cancelling a four-goal advantage for Herning-Ikast on Sunday
- Slovenian goalkeeper Amra Pandžic was outstanding in the second half for Baia Mare, saving 11 shots for a 47 per cent efficiency
- Baia Mare’s Serbian right back Jelena Lavko scored six goals, including the one which tied the score with two seconds to go regular time, taking her overall tally in the competition to 59 goals
- this was Herning-Ikast’s first-ever win in the EHF Finals, breaking a three-game losing streak, while Baia Mare also have only one win from four games in the business end of the competition — last season against the Danish side
Emotional rollercoaster finishes with Herning-Ikast win
It was a true rollercoaster and an exciting finish for both Herning-Ikast and CS Minaur Baia Mare in the Energi Viborg EHF Finals, as the Danish side took a crunch win after a penalty shootout, 29:28, against the plucky Romanian side. The decisive miss was Baia Mare’s fourth penalty, as line player Yaroslava Burlachenko shot almost directly at goalkeeper Jessica Ryde.
However, Baia Mare proved they are no pushovers with their performance over the weekend, which saw them drop the semi-final against Viborg by four goals and tie the match against Herning-Ikast, as the 20 fans who came from Romania gave their favourites a standing ovation.