Romanian handball teams in European inter-club competitions

Romanian handball team SCM Craiova has won the EHF Cup, while the defending champions CSM Bucharest has won the Champions League bronze final

Florentin Căpitănescu, 14.05.2018, 13:40

Although not as popular as football, Romanian handball has a long history. In recent years, not just the Romanian national women’s team grabbed notable results, but also individual clubs, which have won important European inter-club competitions. CSM Craiova on Friday won the EHF Cup after defeating 30-25 Vipers Kirstiansand of Norway on home turf in the second leg of the final. In the first leg the Norwegian team had won 26-22. CSM finished second in the group, which also included Brest of France, Kuban Krasnodar of Russia and Denmark’s Randers. In the quarterfinals, Craiova eased past Lada Togliatti of Russia, seeded first in the competition, and knocked out Kastamonu of Turkey in the semi-finals.

SCM’s feat is all the more praiseworthy as the team has this season undergone major changes, most of the players being homegrown. This was the first European title for SCM and the first EHF Cup won by a Romanian team in the competition’s latest format. Previously, Chimistul Ramnicu Valcea won the IHF Cup in 1984 and 1989, while Rapid Bucharest won the competition in 1993. Also in this year’s edition of the EHF Cup, another Romanian team, HC Zalau, had a very good run. The two teams could have played each other in the semis, but Zalau was edged out by Turkey’s Kastamonu.

Further evidence of the power of Romanian handball is CSM Bucharest’s qualification, for the third consecutive year, to the Champions League Final Four tournament, this year hosted by Budapest. Although the expectations were high, CSM had to settle for the bronze medal. In the semi-finals, the team from Bucharest lost 20-26 to Hungary’s Gyor, which went on to defend their title in the final against Macedonia’s Vardar Skopje, 27-26. CSM won however the bronze final match against Russia’s Rostov Don, 31-30. Despite the disappointment, CSM’s Cristina Neagu was designated the competition’s top scorer with a total of 110 goals this season. This is the second time the award goes to Neagu, who so far has been designated the world’s best handballer three times.

(Translated by V. Palcu)