National champions women: Part 1 - Central Europe

Based on the current European Cup ranking, only the 19 best national leagues will provide teams for the 2013/14 Women's EHF Champions League season. In five parts, ehfCL.com will shine the spotlight on each of the teams who qualified for the next edition of Europe's top flight and their race for the ticket in their respective national competitions. The first part is dedicated to teams from Central Europe - Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland and Austria.

POLAND (SPR Lublin)

After two years the team from Lublin returned to the Polish throne, as SPR Lublin lifted the national championship trophy for the sixteenth time in the club's history. The record champions swept Zagłębie Lubin in the final series (best-of-five). On the way to the final they first knocked-out Olimpia-Beskid Nowy Sącz (2:0) in the quarter-final and then also eliminated Politechnika Koszalińska in the semi-final. In the regular season they suffered only two defeats in 22 rounds – first at home against Lubin and second on the court of defending champions from Visztal Łączpol Gdynia.

HUNGARY (Győri Audi ETO KC and FTC Rail Cargo Hungária)

The new continental club champions from Győr hardly met any resistance this season as their only point loss, besides the semi-final second leg defeat (but eventual victory on aggregate) by Oltchim Valcea, was the draw during the regular season of the Hungarian league on the court of FTC Rail Cargo Hungária. Before they finally lifted the coveted EHF Champions League trophy, they clinched their tenth national league title as they easily sailed past Vác in the semi-final and FTC stood no chance against them in the final.  Both finalists have qualified for the upcoming EHF Champions League season.

SLOVENIA (RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana)

Two-time EHF Champions League winners from RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana added another title to their admirable accolade of 19 consecutive national championship titles. Their dominance in the independent Slovenian league has lasted since 1995, when they replaced Olimpija Ljubljana. However, there is a slight chance of an emerging domestic challenger as RK GEN-I Zagorje was the only team who managed to beat Krim and finished in second place by only one point in the race for the title and a ticket to the premier continental competition.

Head coach Tone Tiselj will have to re-build his team during the summer as two legends are leaving after a decade of service to the club. In addition to club icons Maryna Vergeliuk and Liudmila Bodnieva, German Susann Müller returns to Leipzig and Gabriella Kain announced her retirement.

AUSTRIA (HYPO NÖ)

In the farewell season of the head-coach András Németh HYPO NÖ comfortably fullfiled the domestic objective by winning the national title for the 37th consecutive time without losing a single point. After winning all 22 matches of the preliminary round, HYPO won both legs of the final against their own second team HYPO 2. For the Austrian heavyweights the title was just an icing on the cake after winning the Cup Winners’ Cup. The ties with the Brazilian federation have been strengthened after the season as the club management announced that eight Brazilian players will reunite with their national coach Morten Soubak. The Dane takes over Németh’s position.

SWITZERLAND (LK Zug)

The record champions LC Brühl were denied on their attempt to lift the national league title for the 30th time as they were swept in the final best-of-three series by LK Zug, who clinched their only second trophy after 2010. Zug also won the regular season and the winners stage, losing just two matches against Spono Nottwil and Yellow Winterthur and drawing once against Brühl throughout the entire season.