EHF European Cup Men to throw off on Friday

The 2022/23 season of the EHF European Cup Men, the third-tier European club competition, will get underway with 26 teams participating in round 1.

18 clubs will open their campaign this weekend, as six first-leg games as well as three double-headers will be played from 9 to 11 September.

• the competition will open on Friday in Zubri, where Czech side HC Robe Zubri will meet Turkey's Izmir BSB SK. On Saturday, the rivals will face off again
• the two other double-headers of the weekend are scheduled for 10 and 11 September. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, RK Gracanica will meet Kosovo's KH Kastrioti twice, while the Icelandic team IBV Vestmannaeyjar will welcome Holon HC from Israel
• four more double-headers and six second-leg games are set for the following weekend, 17/18 September
• the only national derby in this round features two Italian sides: Raimond Sassari and SSV Brixen. On Saturday, their first-leg encounter will take place in Sassari
• 51 more teams, including defending champions Nærbø IL, will join the competition in round 2, to be played on 29/30 October and 5/6 November. The draw for round 2 took place on 6 September, so the round 1 participants already know their potential opponents

Czech Republic represented by three teams

There are clubs from 16 European countries among the round 1 participants, and the Czech Republic has the biggest representation with three clubs.

While Zubri are set to face Izmir, HC Dukla Praha will host SPD Radnicki Kragujevac from Serbia on Saturday, with the return leg scheduled for 17 September. And the third Czech side, TJ Sokol Nove Veseli, will host their Estonian rivals HC Tallinn twice next weekend, on 17 and 18 September.