Two New Titles for Hypo-Noe Within a Week

After suffering defeat in the CL semi-final against the Russian team of Lada Togliatti (as earlier reported on eurohandball.com), Hypo-Noe had to defend their titles in the Austrian Cup and the Austrian championship.

The result for Gunnar Prokop’s team was three easy wins and two more titles. The cup final was played on 1 May in the West Austrian town of Dornbirn against the team of SSV Dornbirn Schoren. 800 excited spectators welcomed Prokop’s elite team, which produced an avalanche of goals to win by 55:25 (27:11). The top scorers were (for Hypo) Boklashchuk with 17 (2), while for the home team, Gferrer scored 6 (2). It was Hypo-Noe’s 20th cup win in a row.

Two days later there was a meeting between the first and second teams of Hypo-Noe in the championship final. The team of Feri Kovács fought bravely and led at half- time by one goal (15:14). Ryan Zinglersen’s world class Hypo 1 fought back in the second half and with magnificent displays by Piedade and Fridrikas, they turned things around to win by 33:24.

Farewell title for coach and players

For Saturday’s return game, Ryan Zinglersen promised a tougher performance by his Hypo1 team, and their class gave the youngsters of Hypo2 no chance. The final score of 40:22 (24:11) provided the ideal finale for those leaving Hypo1 at the end of the season (Ryan Zinglersen, Gabriela Rotis, Tetyana Shynkarenko, Alina Marin, Mariya Boklaschuk and Katarina Stevancevic).

The new coach, handball professor András Németh, and the two new players from Ferencváros (Erika Kirsner, and Tímea Tóth) were introduced to the fans, and were given a warm welcome. With these three Hungarians and other signings such as Sabine Englert and Katrin Engel, Hypo-Noe are already looking forward to the new season in the hope of winning the CL title for the 9th time.

TEXT: Márk Hegedüs, Time Out Magazin (www.timeoutmag.com)

Slagelse Hitting the High Notes

If it was the choice of Lada coach Alexey Gumyanov, he would surely have chosen another time to meet Slagelse DT in Champions League Final. The Danish team reached top form for the most important period of the season: Slagelse won 30-23 at home and 28-26 away against Krim Ljubljana in the quarterfinals; they defeated Gyori Audi ETO 31-25 and 30-22 in the semi-final; they have beaten EHF Cup finalists Ikast/Bording 34-29 and 39-30 in the Danish play-off semi-finals, and recently they defeated last year’s CL winners and Danish champions Viborg HK by 30-19 and 32-25 in the Danish league finals.

Going for the third title

Even though Slagelse have won the Women’s Champions League twice before – in 2004 and 2005 – head coach Anja Andersen does not deny the importance of the third victory.

“After losing the title last year, it would be the greatest achievement of my career to get it back with Slagelse,” she said.

As usual, however, Slagelse have great respect for the opponents:

“Lada are an interesting young team who like to play very fast and put a lot of pressure on the opponents’ defence. We like to do exactly the same, so this can make these two finals very exciting,” assistant coach Peter Bruun Jørgensen told Eurohandball.com.

“Lada have many players with great potential – not only the two most famous handballers, Liudmilla Postnova and Irini Bliznova, but they also have two great playmakers and two good left wingers. And when Bliznova was injured in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie with Viborg HK, Ekaterina Davydenko came in and did almost as well as Bliznova in the right back position. In general, I am impressed by the current potential of Russian women’s handball,” Peter Bruun Jørgensen added.

Experienced referees

The first leg of the finals will begin at 15.50 CET (18.50 local time) Sunday in Togliatti with Slovenian Darlo Repenzek and Janko Pozeznik refereeing. The second leg will take place exactly a week later, Sunday May 20th at 19.15 in Brøndby Hallen, Copenhagen, with the experienced French referees Gilles Bord and Olivier Buy in charge.

TEXT: Peter Bruun

Above Expectations

When Karsten Madsen took over as chairman in Slagelse FH last August, things of the club did not look nearly as bright as they do today. Anja Andersen was about to leave Slagelse and several players and sponsors were also.

Things have definitely changed during Madsen’s first eight months as chairman. Apart from the fact that Anja Andersen will stay, the sponsors will also and new ones join the club; in addition, most of the key players are also going to stay.

Slagelse have just won the Danish Championship – and on top of all, they are in their third Champions League Final in four years. This time Russian Lada Togliatti will be the opponent in the next two weeks. Eurohandball.com talks to Karsten Madsen.

Eurohandball.com: What is it like to be the chairman of a Champions League finalist?

Karsten Madsen: Well, I have been involved in the club in the previous years too, but as a sponsor. It is correct, though, that it is my first time as chairman and it is really great. The team has developed tremendously during this season and I’m very happy that not only our women’s team is successful, but also our men’s team gained promotion to the First Division this season

Eurohandball.com: This was probably not what you expected when you took over as chairman back in August?

Karsten Madsen. Actually, I said already that time that our target is to win everything this season. But of course, one thing is to target something. To achieve it is something different…

Eurohandball.com: When you took over as chairman, Anja Andersen was about to leave together with several players and sponsors. Now we know that Anja Andersen stays for at least two more years, and so do majority of the players and sponsors. It must be much better to be chairman now than it was eight months ago…

Karsten Madsen: We are still facing big challenges in the coming years as Viborg signed Bojana (Popovic, ed.) and they will – of course – be very strong next year. But then again, nothing is impossible!

Eurohandball.com: Not many towns of Slagelse’s dimensions have a sports team at this level. This must mean a lot to the whole club and the town.

Karsten Madsen: At least we are the only town of this size with a team on this level at the moment. Viborg did it last year – this year we are doing it for the third time. It is simply fantastic!

TEXT: Peter Bruun

Alexey Gumyanov: “We must not miss a chance like this”

Lada Togliatti are preparing for the final of the Champions League against Slagelse with the Russian Championship final. The last “test match” was the first leg that Lada won at home against EHF Cup finalist Zvenigorod Zvezda 33:28. The second leg will only be played after the CL finals. Eurohandball.com talks to head coach of Lada Togliatti, Alexey Gumyanov.

eurohandball.com: What can you tell us about the form and physical condition of your team?

Alexey Gumyanov: After the CL semi-final in Austria and three other Russian league games the players were tired, almost exhausted. But after a one-week rest they gained a good physical form for the first match of the Russian finals.

eurohandball.com: Is it more difficult to play CL finals and Russian League finals at the same time or does it even help?

Alexey Gumyanov: Of course it is difficult to play CL finals and Russian League finals simultaneously. It happens sometimes that the team must change time zones three times a week and the time difference varies from 1 to 3 hours. We must fly frequently and it influences physical condition. Before any important match the team should have minimum a week to be able to recover and be fit both physically and psychologically.

eurohandball.com: What is the greatest strength of Slagelse? What do you prepare for?

Alexey Gumyanov: We have been keeping an eye on Slagelse for three years now. In my opinion, the team displays a very interesting and varied style of play at the moment. Slagelse are very strong in all positions starting from their goalkeeper.

eurohandball.com: Who do you think the most dangerous Slagelse players can be?

Alexey Gumyanov: Leganger, Melgaard, Savic, Popovic, Turey and Lungu.

eurohandball.com: What are your expectations for the final?

Alexey Gumyanov: We can’t miss the chance to win the CL final. It is not given very often so we will do our best to win it.

eurohandball.com: What support do you expect at home from your own fans?

Alexey Gumyanov: There is a proverb: “East or west, at home is the best.” It means that even the walls can help us to reach the victory. We expect excellent support from the fans who love our team.

TEXT: eurohandball.com

Lada Prepare For the Final: "We Want to Win the Champions League!”

he most successful Lada season in Europe started with pessimistic expectations from many Russian experts and fans. Some people even predicted that the campaign of the Togliattians would inevitably end in failure. The reason was the loss of head coach Trefilov who moved to Zvezda Zvenigorod, taking experienced players such as Shipilova and Romenskaya with him. However, new coach Alexey Gumyanov said that there is no use for crying and started searching for improvement. He found it in the area of tactics and psychology; in addition, some young players entirely justified the trainer’s confidence.

In the Champions League, Lada made its way to the final with no slip-ups. Gumyanov’s team won 5 matches in group B and lost only the last (to Gyori AUDI ETO) but their position in the table was already secure. The Russian champions defeated Viborg in the quarter-finals (32:32, 33:31) and Hypo in the semi-finals (28:22, 29:35).

Finals in the Russian championship

In the national championship, Lada lost 3 points during the main round and took 2nd place behind Zvezda. In the quarter-final play-offs, Lada completely destroyed Zvezda-2 – 36:21 (away), 30:20 (home). Young players, such as Olga Chernoivanenko and Ekaterina Davydenko were especially good in these games. The semi-finals proved more difficult, as in the first match, Lada lost to Dinamo Volgograd – 24:28. Dinamo was the silver medalist for the last 5 seasons, and is a strong club with big ambitions, so Lada felt uncomfortable losing the first game. But Togliattians used their second-leg home advantage to full effect, putting their guests firmly in their place – 34:29, 34:27; Bliznova, Marennikova and Muraviova performed very well in these matches. Alexey Gumyanov said afterwards that his team was very tired due to a hard schedule. He hadn’t been surprised with the defeat in Volgograd, but had been sure that the overall victory would be theirs. Lada won the series 2:1, and will play Zvezda in final.

The first battle between Lada and Zvezda took place on 5th May in Togliatti, so the team didn't have much time to recover its strength before the CL final. But Togliattian players must have been in good spirit as they defeated their main rivals in Russia 33:28, leaving Evgeny Trefilov very disappointed! The second and the third (if the 3rd is necessary) matches are assigned to 26 and 27 May, but now Lada are looking forward to the Champions League final!

"We want the Champions League"

Alexey Gumyanov spoke exclusively to eurohandball.com:

"We had a tough moment when we lost in Volgograd, whilst at the same moment getting news about the death of Ludmila Postnova's boyfriend. The girls were all crying. Then we defeated Dinamo twice at home. As you know, last Saturday we played against Zvezda, and also celebrated a victory. Matches with Zvenigorod’s team are not just matches for the gold for us – to win is a matter of honour for both teams. That's because there are many ex-Togliattians in Zvezda, including head coach Trefilov, and other reasons. The first half was tough and nervous, but in the second we performed very well and showed our best qualities. We are a little tired physically, but feel very well mentally. We know that Slagelse DT is a real "dream team" that has just became the Danish champion, and we are working to find the best way to match them. Rest assured, we won’t give up. We want to win the Champions League very much".