Mini CL in Koprivnica

The 2nd Josip Samarzija-Bepo Tournament will take place in Koprivnica on Friday and Saturday. The event is held in honour of one of the greatest Croatian handball legends and founder of the Podravka club.

Although the Champions League title of Podravka was 11 years ago, Koprivnica is still signed with golden letters on the European handball map. Few cities could host so many powerful teams on a tournament as a tribute to their fellow countryman, a handball visionary and a great personality.

Podravka Vegeta will host the following sides: eight times CL winner Hypo NÖ, two times CL winner Krim and Buducnost T-Mobile. Interesting is that all four teams were drawn to different CL groups. The tournament can also be called a mini-CL.

Last year, Podravka won the first trophy against Krim. Anita Görbicz was awarded Player of the Tournament. Many visitors and handball professionals were surprised by excellent organisation at the first edition. It is more then sure that Croats will care about a perfect organisation again to satisfy all the fans and athletes and guarantee top handball. But the most important thing is that this will be great opportunity for all four teams to see where they stand at this phase of the preparation period and what to expect from this season.

New sports hall

The tournament will be held in the brand new sports hall of Koprivnica. In the future this hall will be the home court for the best Croatian women’s team, Podravka Vegeta.

The matches will be played according to the schedule below. Handball fans are more then welcome to visit and enjoy the spectacular event.

Friday, 31 August
18:00 Podravka Vegeta vs Hypo NÖ
20:00 Buducnost T-Mobile vs Krim Ljubjana

Saturday, 1 September
10:00 Podravka Vegeta vs Buducnost T-Mobile
12:00 Krim Ljubjana vs Hypo NÖ
17:00 Hypo NÖ vs Buducnost T-Mobile
19:00 Podravka Vegeta vs Krim Ljubjana