A Macedonian Final in Ohrid: Gjukic Equalised Seconds from the End, the Super Cup Goes to Gevgelija

A Macedonian final in Ohrid: Vardar and the hosts play for the trophy tonight

The Krste Andonovski memorial tournament in Ohrid will have a Macedonian winner. RK Vardar beat Slovenia's Trimo Trebnje 28-26 after a genuine turnaround - the Slovenians led 5-1, then 8-3, and at half-time it was level at 11-11. Vlado Cupic's side played with a shortened rotation due to the absence of the injured Abdelhak, Lazarevski, Jankovski, Stojanovski and Bomastar. Goalkeeper Vasil Gogov was decisive with 14 saves, while Brazilian back Da Silva scored six goals and Ljevar five. The final is scheduled for 20:15 at the Biljanini Izvori hall.

Gjukic equalised seconds from the end: Ohrid pulled the final out of a lost position

Hosts GRK Ohrid needed only one point against Croatian champions Zagreb to top the group, thanks to a better goal difference - +14 against +13. They got it the hardest way possible: 30-30 after a match in which Zagreb led 18-14 at half-time, and with ten minutes to go it was 28-24. Goalkeeper Slavic strung together 11 saves, Ivankovic and Mate scored five goals each, and experienced winger Darko Gjukic got the equaliser seconds before the end. A finish like that is not planned in training - it comes from a team that did not stop playing when the scoreboard said it was over.

The Super Cup moves to Gevgelija: Vardar and Ohrid on 2 September

The Handball Federation of Macedonia announced that the first official trophy of the new season will be decided in Gevgelija. The Super Cup clash between RK Vardar 1961 and GRK Ohrid is scheduled for Wednesday, 2 September, at the 26th of April sports hall, starting at 19:00. Ticket information will be published later. The decision is worth noting - the federation is taking the biggest match of the season's start to a town that rarely gets anything like it, instead of automatically returning it to Skopje. Handball in Macedonia lives outside the capital too; more decisions like this, fewer excuses.

EHF European League with a new format: 32 teams, eight groups, starting 29 September

The men's EHF European League enters the 2026/27 season with a changed format - five phases instead of the previous ones: group stage, play-offs, last 16, quarter-finals and the EHF Finals. Twelve teams eliminated from the Champions League join at the play-off stage, two more in the last 16. The group stage keeps eight groups of four teams, with two advancing from each - for the remaining sixteen the European season ends there. The first round is split across two days, 29 and 30 September, and the group stage finishes on 1 December. Another format with more matches and more fixture dates; who benefits from that is not hard to guess.

Record-breaking Cologne, 1.2 million spectators and 14,000 tickets in 24 hours

The EHF rated the 2025/26 club season as a record one. Matches in EHF club competitions drew 1.2 million spectators to the stands, around 100,000 of them across the four final weekends alone. The two Final Four tournaments set records - 20,022 spectators per day at the MVM Dome in Budapest for the women's Champions League and 20,122 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne for the men's. For Cologne 2027, 14,000 tickets sold in the first 24 hours after sales opened. Figures that show where handball in Europe is going - and how far our league is from that reality, even though this region regularly produces the players who fill those arenas.