Zabrze, Haslum, Volendam, Ystad and Haukar in Round 2

Qualification Round 1 for the Men’s EHF Cup Group Phase finished this weekend – not only the second leg ties, but also four double headers.

In the Hala Sportiva Pogon in the Polish city Zabrze, the local heroes from Gornik made things clear in the first leg, as they defeated PGU-Kartina TV Tiraspol from Moldova by a huge 40:25 margin.

Ten goals from centre back Alexandr Lupasco did not help Tiraspol much, and in the second leg he and his teammates did not do much better, as Gornik won again but this time by 36:25.

Gornik Zabrze’s next opponent will be from Ukraine in the form of ZTR Zaporozhye.

In Nadderudhallen in Bekkestua (Norway), Haslum Handballklubb did not have much trouble with HB Dudelange from Luxembourg either.

A 34:27 win in the first leg was followed by an even clearer win (34:23) in the second.

“The matches were a bit of a test for our patience, but we did very well, I think,” was the comment from Haslum coach Tom Eirk Saprsno.

In Round 2, his team will face Bosnian RK Borac m:tel who have VELUX EHF Champions League qualification experience under their belts.

HV. KRAS/Volendam are also ready for another round in the EHF Cup after a massive aggregate win at home against HC Lovcen from Montenegro.

The first match in the Sporthal Opperdam in Volendam actually decided the matter, as the Dutch team won 34:23 after already being eight goals up, 18:10, at half-time.

However, Volendam did not relax in the second leg as they pushed on to win 30:18 this time.

For Volendam, a Belarusian opponent will be on the menu in the next round, in the form of SKA Minsk.

Kim Anderson & Co. had a slightly harder away match against in Handball Kaerjeng. However, the Swedes never looked in trouble and closed out the match with a cool 35:20.

Ystad IF HF will now come up against Russian outfit Permskie Medvedi.

Haukar also know their next opponent, the Icelandic team will face former EHF Cup participants HC Zomimak-M.

Haukar managed to scrap through after losing the first match against SSV Bozen Loacker from Italy by six goals 30:24, but they managed to win 26:20 in the second match.

Playing away did not bother Haukar, and the ten goals from Bozen’s left back Dean Turkovic in the first match and nine in the second wasn't enough for the Italian side.

With the overall score reading 50:50 on the final whistle the Icelandic side progress due to more away goals scored.

Another tie which was in doubt was the one between the Klaipeda Dragunas and Pölva Serviti.

Polva had only won their home game by three, 29:26, but that did turn out to be more than enough.

Despite the support from 1000 spectators in Klaipeda, the Dragons did not manage to close the deficit.

Already by half-time, Polva were leading 17:10, and even though Dragunas managed to reduce the gap to only one goal at the end, 24:23, this was more than enough from preventing Polva from proceeding to the next round.

There their opponents will be Pfadi Wintterthur from Switzerland.

For a full list of all the results from Round 1 click here.

PHOTOS: Krzysztof Kuron, Espen Hildrup (Hildrup Photo) and Roland Courtois respectively.