Szentendrei and Ekaterinodar remain unbeaten

The race for the ebt Finals titles is heating up in Baia Mare, with the second day of preliminary round matches played on Friday. 

Each group has just three matches remaining to decide the quarter-final places at what is the record ebt Finals regarding participation, with a total of 28 teams vying for the titles in the men’s and women’s competitions. 

Men’s competition

Day two at the ebt 2019 Finals saw the group leaders lose their footing. Led by top scorer of the tournament Egor Kochura, SC Ekaterinodar finished Friday as the only side on maximum points.  

After three wins on day one, former Group A leaders Palletways Verallia Azuqueca had their first taste of defeat on Friday. Their first opponent of the day, Ekaterinodar, added three victories to their tally and therefore snatched the top spot in Group A. 

In Group B, Danish side HEI and Serbian team BHC 2areg fell from the top spots to third and fifth, respectively. Thanks to three wins from three games on Friday, Spanish team Pinturas Andalucia BM Playa Sevilla moved to first. 

With one day of the preliminary round left, the race for the quarter-finals is tight in Group B in particular. Behind Andalucia on 10 points, four teams are level on six. 

Women’s competition

The defending champions are back on top! Multichem-Szentendrei N.K.E. collected three wins from three matches on Friday to keep their perfect record intact, and with it, the maximum points. 

The Hungarian side now top Group A and have yet to drop even one set in Baia Mare. Club Balonmano Playa Algeciras fell to second place, but Maria Batista followed her scorching form on day one and maintained her place as top scorer with 80 points.  

CAIPIranhas are the one and only side at the ebt Finals to hold on to their place on top of the table. The German team finished day one in first place in Group B, and though they lost their opening game on Friday, two additional wins were enough to keep them on top. 

Follow the ebt Finals

The ebt Finals 2019 continue on Saturday with the last preliminary round matches, which will see the quarter-final places decided. The quarter-finals will be played later in the day, before the semi-finals and finals on Sunday. 

The placement round will also begin after the preliminary round concludes on Saturday.

All matches are streamed live on ehfTV.com and can be followed on beachticker.ehf.eu. Behind-the-scenes fun also comes to fans live from Baia Mare on Instagram @ehf_beach_handball.