RRI Sports Club

Romanian handball is trying these days to get back among the top European teams. A quite successful endeavor, we could say, if we compare current results with the ones in recent years. In the women’s Champions League, two teams from Romania qualified for the quarter-finals, a first in the last seven years. The first leg of the quarters gives hope to the Romanian supporters that at least one of their favourites will make it to the final tournament in Budapest, in June.

Florin Orban, 03.05.2023, 13:34

Romanian handball is trying these days to get back among the top European teams. A quite successful endeavor, we could say, if we compare current results with the ones in recent years. In the women’s Champions League, two teams from Romania qualified for the quarter-finals, a first in the last seven years. The first leg of the quarters gives hope to the Romanian supporters that at least one of their favourites will make it to the final tournament in Budapest, in June.

On Sunday, CSM Bucharest lost the away match against the Danish Team Esbjerg by only four goals – 28 to 32. With the Norwegian Emilie Hegh Arntzen, author of ten goals, in great shape, the Romanian vice-champion posed serious problems to the opponents. However, the hosts blocked Cristina Neagu well, but she still managed to score seven times. In the return match, scheduled for next Sunday at the Polivalenta Hall in Bucharest, CSM will have the public on its side, and that can make the difference.

As in every home match, Rapid Bucharest had extraordinary supporters with them in the battle against the Norwegian team Vipers Kristiansand, the winner of the 2022 edition of the Champions League. The Scandinavians were in better shape and, in spite of the great efforts of goalkeepers Diana Ciucă and Denisa Şandru, they still managed to score 31 goals.

It is worth mentioning that in the second half, the two teams scored the same number of goals – 13 each. The Rapid players managed to rise to the level of their opponents for at least half a match and we hope to see them doing the same on Saturday, in Norway. It is hard to believe, though, that the Romanian team will be able to win away from home, with a 7-goal difference, the match against the European champions.

In men’s handball, the Romanian national squad qualified for the European Championship to be held Germany, in January next year. Although they lost to Ukraine on Sunday, 26 to 31, the Romanians rank 2nd in the group, with four points, the same as the Faroe Islands and Ukraine, but with a better goal difference. The Romanian men’s national team has not qualified to a final European tournament since 1996. (EE)