Baia Mare mount rampant comeback against Astrakhanochka

In a crucial game for their future in the competition, CS Minaur Baia Mare bounced back after a shaky start to take a superb 30:27 win against Russian outfit Astrakhanochka, who missed two influential players.

Norwegian team Storhamar are also tied for the first place in the group with Baia Mare and Astrakhan, after mounting their own comeback to seal a win against Thüringer HC, 32:30.

A 14-goal outing from Norwegian left back Helene Fauske lifted Herning-Ikast to their third win in four games in group A, a 39:29 drubbing against Vac.

The Danish side lead the group with six points, a four-point advantage over the Hungarian team sitting third.

GROUP A

Herning-Ikast Handbold (DEN) vs Vaci NKSE (HUN) 39:29 (19:13)

• Vac stayed level with their opponents for the first twenty minutes, able to keep up with the frantic rhythm. But having only scored three times in the last ten minutes of the half, they were down by six at half-time
• led by Helene Fauske (14 goals) and despite Laura Szabo netting nine for Vac, Herning kept up the rhythm after the break. The Danish side took full advantage of twelve goals at the 48th minute (33:21)
• Helene Fauske scored 14 goals, at a 100% efficiency. The Norwegian centre back set a new personal record, the former dating back to 2019 in the EHF Cup against Sävehof (12 goals)
• Herning-Ikast are temporarily leading the group with six points from four games, two points ahead of Paris 92. Vac remain third with two points.

GROUP C

CS Minaur Baia Mare (ROU) vs Astrakhanochka (RUS) 30:27 (13:15)

• the All-star line player from EHF EURO 2020, Croatian Ana Debelic, scored three times for Astrakhanochka in the first 12 minutes to help the Russian side take a commanding 7:3 lead
• with Astrakhanochka boasting a 71 per cent attacking efficiency in the first half, they took a 15:13 lead at the break as Baia Mare failed to cut the gap to less than two goals
• the third best attack in the competition after the first three games was limited to only three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half as Baia Mare jumped to a 10:3 run and opened a five-goal gap, 23:18
• Serbian backs Jovanka Kovacevic and Jelena Lavko were superb for Baia Mare, scoring eight goals each
• the Romanian side tied Astrakhanochka and Storhamar on top of the standings, with four points each, but the Russian team hold the tiebreaker after their 33:27 home win

Storhamar Handball Elite (NOR) vs Thüringer HC (GER) 32:30 (14:14)

• experienced Danish left wing Ann Grete Norgaard scored twice in a 3:0 run for Storhamar that prompted the Norwegian side to take the lead, 9:7, after 15 minutes
• Thüringer, who had everything at stake in the second game of the group, bounced back, led by centre back Kerstin Künding, who scored five times to help the German side tie the game at the break, 14:14
• a 7:2 burst from Thüringer in the start of the second half, spurred by 19-year old Austrian left wing Nina Neidhart, who scored three in that period, saw the German side take a 21:17 lead
• it was Norwegian right back Maja Jakobsen who kept Storhamar in the game, after scoring nine goals, seven of which came in the second half
• with goalkeeper Tonje Haug Lerstad saving 15 shots and backs Jakobsen, Guro Nestaker and Tonje Enkerund combining for 17 goals, Storhamar secured the 32:30 win, with a 7:3 run to close the game
• the two sides also meet tomorrow in Germany, which could prove pivotal for their future in the competition

Everything to play for in Group C

CS Minaur Baia Mare, Astrakhanochka and Storhamar are all tied in the first place with four points, after sharing wins against each other.

When fully focused, the Romanian side appear the most experienced, especially with a strong back line which features Serbians Jovanka Kovacevic, Jelena Lavko and Romanian centre back Cristina Laslo, who combined for 48 goals in their first three games.

With both games against Thüringer HC scheduled in Baia Mare, Minaur look like the prime pick to make it out of the group, with Storhamar and Astrakhanochka fighting for the other quarter-final berth.