In the men’s tournament, reigning champions, Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga, qualified for the main round, but lost two of their four matches while in the women’s tournament, the winners from 2021, GRD Leça - Love Tiles, were eliminated from contention, despite winning two of the three matches they played.
- the reigning champions in the women’s tournament, GRD Leça - Love Tiles, were eliminated in the preliminary round and headed to the consolation round, despite posting two wins in three games, with a weaker point difference, 109:94, than Hungarian side OVB Beach Girls®, 111:92
- Danish side HEI Dame Beach Handbal land Spanish side GEA A.M. Team Almeria are leading their main round groups, after winning four games out of four, with the runners-up from the last edition being the only side that has not dropped a set on the first days of the EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup 2022
- after the disappointing elimination of GRD Leça - Love Tiles, the home fans had reasons to celebrate, as the two Portuguese sides in the men’s tournament, GRD Leça – SPAR and Escola de Formação de Espinho - Os Tigres have four wins in four matches
- the men’s reigning champions, Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Malaga, lost two matches, including their first in the main round against fellow Spanish side Galobank BM Playa, in a shoot-out, which Galobank BM Playa took 8:6
- in the women’s tournament, Balonmano Playa Alcalá’s Monica Camara Heras was the best scorer of the first days, with 91 points, followed by GEA A.M. Team Almeria’s María Asunción Batista Portero, with 87 points, 24 of which came in the main round match
Favourites do well, but reigning champions in women’s tournament fail to defend the title
There were big surprises on the first two days of the EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup 2022, with the reigning champions in the women’s competition, GRD Leça - Love Tiles being eliminated on the home beach of Porto Santo, Madeira, heading to the consolation round.
They won their matches against Bruder Ismaning, 2:1, and against Beachqueens, 2:0, but had a worse point difference, +15, than Ismaning’s +31 and Hungarian side OVB Beach Girls®, +19. Eight teams progressed to the main round – two from Germany and Hungary and one from Denmark, Poland, Spain and Great Britain.
However, the runners-up from the last edition, GEA A.M. Team Almeria, had a flawless start, not dropping any of the eight sets they played, and are poised to win their main round group, if they secure two more wins on Saturday, against Beach Bazis/Schleißheim and BHT Byczki Kowalewo Pomorskie.
In the men’s tournament, two teams from Spain and hosts Portugal made the main round, with others from Sweden, Hungary, Germany and Poland also progressing to the next phase from the preliminary round.
Only three sides – Escola de Formação de Espinho - Os Tigres and Galobank BM Playa - are on a four-game winning streak, as everything will be decided tomorrow when the main round will be completed and the pairings for the quarter-finals will be known.
