EHF YOUTH CLUB TROPHY, QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENTS
QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 1
HC Zagreb (CRO) vs HC Vojvodina (SRB) 43:41 (22:22)
An opening goal from Marko Jokic helped HC Vojvodina take an early lead in the bronze medal match, but HC Zagreb remained close and the two sides were neck-and-neck in the first quarter. However, the Croatian side’s offence hit a rough patch with a few unsuccessful attempts at scoring, thus giving their Serbian opponents the opportunity to pull away and distance themselves to four goals in the 17th minute (13:9) — the biggest lead in the game. The momentum then shifted in Zagreb’s favour and four unanswered goals on their side meant that the game was back to square one (15:15) with less than 10 minutes left in the first half.
Nothing separated the two sides at the break, but Vojvodina profited from Zagreb’s missed seven-metre shot at the start of the second half to retake the lead, helped by two consecutive goals from Vukasin Pavlovic. The young star would go on to score three more times in the game, increasing his tally to 12, but dramatically missing a last-second shot — however, at that point it was already too late for Vojvodina to hope for a win. HC Zagreb proved they have nerves of steel once again and made another comeback from four goals down in the 45th minute (34:30). The Croatian side kept the scoreboard balanced until the final minutes, when they moved up a gear to get from 40:40 to a 43:41 win, helped by an inspired Roko Guina, who netted the last three goals for his team.
OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs Veszprém Handball Academy (HUN) 30:31 (12:14)
A 3:0 run for the hosts in the first two minutes announced the start of an intense final and a difficult challenge for OTP Bank - PICK Szeged. Veszprém kept on growing their lead and were already five goals ahead (8:3) by the seven-minute mark, as a series of technical errors prevented Szeged from narrowing the gap. Midway through the first half, Szeged started making their way up from being led 10:6 and slowly but steadily minimised the hosts’ advantage to just one goal (13:12) in the final minutes before the break.
A goal in the 29th minute by Roland József Szeip helped Veszprém start the second half two goals ahead (14:12), but OTP Bank - PICK Szeged returned from the lockers with new energy and took the lead in the match for the first time in the 37th minute, at 17:16. Risking missing out on a ticket to Cologne, the hosts recovered quickly and had a slight edge again in the last quarter. With five minutes left on the clock, the outcome was still undecided as the scoreboard showed 28:28, but Veszprém Handball Academy finally sealed the deal in a nerve-racking ending to become the first winners in the qualification tournaments of the EHF Youth Club Trophy. Máté Gáncs-Peto successfully led the hosts’ attack and was the top scorer of the final with nine goals, while Danilo Mrdjan netted eight times for Szeged.
