Macedonia has bid to host EHF EURO 2034 - alongside nine other federations

The deadline for letters of interest has passed and eleven federations came forward for the men's and women's championships in 2034. For the men's tournament, to be played from 10 to 29 January 2034, interest was registered by Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey. Official bids must be submitted by 1 March 2027, and the EHF Congress will decide on 18 September 2027 in Ljubljana. Secretary general Martin Hausleitner packaged it as confirmation of "the continued standing of our biggest national team competition". Registering interest costs nothing. The arenas, hotels and infrastructure cost - and the state answers for those, not the federation. Eight years is enough time to prepare everything required - or to forget the bid was ever made.

Alkaloid drew Ferlach, but Tikves is already out - the EHF Cup with two different Macedonian outcomes

RK Alkaloid plays Austria's Kelag Ferlach in the second round of the EHF European Cup. The first leg is in Macedonia on 17 or 18 October, the return in Austria on 24 or 25 October. The team that lifted the trophy in 2024 has a chance to build a lead in front of its own fans. At the Jasmin sports centre in Kavadarci, GRK Tikves beat Esch 33:32 - and went out. They lost the first leg by three goals (30:27), so a one-goal win was not enough. Kavadarci led 3:1 early on, then the opponents ran off a 4:0 streak to reach 7:4, then 11:7, and half-time finished 14:12. In the last ten minutes Tikves went a goal ahead. Only that far. A win that means nothing is the bitterest result in sport.

Tomovski is the Bundesliga's second-best goalkeeper by saves, and his club is fifteenth

Macedonian international goalkeeper Martin Tomovski registered 12 saves in Bietigheim's 31:29 defeat by Hannover-Burgdorf. The visitors led by as much as eight in the second half (24:17, 26:18), so the hosts merely softened the loss. It is a fourth consecutive home defeat. Across the first five rounds Tomovski has 53 saves, a 24.77 percent save rate - the second goalkeeper by number of saves in the strongest handball league in the world. Bietigheim is fifteenth on two points and in the next round on 26 September travels to Magdeburg, who have yet to lose. One of Europe's best goalkeepers is keeping for a team that is sinking - the numbers are his, the table is not.

Barcelona edge it in Montpellier, Aarhus take a first point in their history

In the EHF Champions League, Barcelona won in Montpellier 28:27 (half-time 18:15), with Dika Mem scoring five goals and the home side's Kylian Villeminot seven. Ludovic Fabregas admitted the match was on a knife edge: "It became a see-saw game, Remi kept us in it, and gave them chances to level." In the same group Aarhus drew 25:25 with Dinamo Bucharest and took their first ever point in the elite. In the other groups: Porto - Partizan 32:28, Wisla Plock - Melsungen 25:24, Celje - Aalborg 26:36 and Kriens-Luzern - Magdeburg 29:39. The Balkan representatives left empty-handed - Partizan lost by four and Celje by ten. The elite does not ask where you come from.

The women's national team began under a new coach, before the "Macedonia Trophy" in Ohrid

The players gathered in Skopje and travelled to Ohrid for the Macedonia Trophy 2026 tournament - the first camp together under new head coach Igor Markovic. At the same time, the Handball Federation is organising the First Women's Handball Forum in Ohrid, with participants including Suzana Lazovic, who went from an Olympic podium to the coaching bench, and Dragana Cvijic, whose name is carved into the history of ZRK Vardar. A forum and a tournament in the same week sounds like serious intent. Women's handball here has for years been getting organisational events more often than it gets a system. Let it be the other way round this time.