Gran Canaria within reach of first European title

Having won the first leg of the Women’s Challenge Cup Final 29:25 in Turkey, Rocasa Gran Canaria ACE can almost taste their first success on the European stage – but to win the coveted trophy they must first take on Kastamonu B. Genclik on Saturday evening.

Women’s Challenge Cup Final, Second Leg
Rocasa Gran Canaria ACE (ESP) vs Kastamonu B. Genclik SK
Saturday 7 May, 18.30 local time, live on ehftv.com

“For us, it is very important to get a good result in Istanbul,” Gran Canaria’s head coach Paco Guzman said before the first leg against Kastamonu.

He and his team certainly achieved that good result, as they won the away game 29:25, setting up a four-goal advantage for the second-leg match.  

Before the first-leg game, Guzman claimed his players were tired after their high number of recent matches, but that was hard to see during the match in Turkey, when the Spanish side led all the way.

Both teams are fighting for their first European trophy ever, though Gran Canaria have the best chance before the meeting in the Pabellon Insular Rita Hernandez.

“You need to chase your dreams,” says Kastamonu coach Osman Kalyoncu.

But with a four-goal deficit it will be a difficult task for the Turkish club to achieve the dream of winning their first European trophy ever.

If Kastamonu are to have a chance of changing the overall result on away ground, they will need to keep an eye on Gran Canaria playmaker Maria Suarez and her cooperation with line player Almudena Rodriguez in particular, as both scored eight goals in the first match.