PostedSeptember 18, 2022, 9:55 PM
Handball: Dudelange collapses in the European Cup
While he had qualification in hand, HB Dudelange completely missed his end of the match once morest the Turks of Spor Toto SK in the first round of the European Cup (24-27).
Qualification for the second round of the European Cup (C3) seemed certain when Dudelange took a 6-goal lead at the start of the second half once morest Spor Toto SK. Victorious in the first leg the day before (25-26), Nikola Malesevic’s men did everything to kill the suspense, quickly taking a good lead (14-9 at halftime). But following coming back very strong from the locker room once more, they started to come up once morest the Turkish defense and see their hosts come back on their heels, then level (21-21, 52nd).
Spor Toto went ahead for the first time with 7 minutes to go (22-23), equalizing on aggregate. The double confrontation changed direction 1’30” from the end (24-26), while Dudelange had just finished with 2 minutes of numerical inferiority.
Berchem also eliminated
And when they had a ball to snatch extra time with 25 seconds to play, the Luxembourgers misplaced it in an inexplicable mess linked to a change of players during possession.
Berchem was also knocked out by Dutch side Drenth Groep Hurry-Up. While they were on track to erase their defeat in the first leg (30-32) and had a five-goal lead, the Luxembourgers also cracked at the end of the match (29-26).
Esch and the Red Boys, automatically qualified for the second round, will begin the competition on October 29-30 and November 5-6 once morest Czechs and Lithuanians.