Women’s Champions League winners, Slagelse DT, were happy with the third place in the Champions Trophy.
Slagelse satisfied
Slagelse opened in Valcea against EHF Cup winner and Russian champion, Zvezda Zvenigorod, in the semi-final. In spite of a clear 33-27 defeat, the team were generally satisfied with the performance. Slagelse were without several key players.
Zvezda were leading 18-15 at half time and all the way to 25-22. In the middle of the second half the Danes managed to close the gap to three goals before Zvezda taking back a six-goal lead. This difference remained until the end of the match.
The left-handed backcourt player, Ana Batinic, was Slagelse’s top scorer with 10 goals.
No revenge for CL title
In the match for the third place Slagelse played a return match of the Champions League finals. Lada Togliatti could not take revenge this time. An extremely equal and intense match (the former Russian champions were leading 28-26 with two minutes left, Slagelse one man down) ended 28-28 and a penalty shoot-out followed. Slagese secured a total win of 35-34.
Once again Ana Batinic was Slagelse’s top scorer with 11 goals, while Carina Friis – replacing Cecilie Leganger in the goal – played a decisive part in the success. The victory will give self-confidence before the upcoming challenges in the Danish league and in the Champions League group stage for Slagelse.
TEXT:
Peter Bruun