Eurofarm Pelister in Group G of the European League - against Gummersbach, Logrono and Gdansk

The draw for the EHF European League 2026/27 split 32 clubs into eight groups, and Eurofarm Pelister ended up in Group G with VfL Gummersbach, Logrono La Rioja and PGE Wybrzeze Gdansk. The Bitola side brings Champions League experience, which in this group is no small thing - Gummersbach is a German club with a budget from another galaxy, and Logrono is a regular Spanish participant. The competition debuts a new format. In the same draw Nexe is in Group A with Elverum, Saint-Raphael and Hammarby, while Flensburg, a two-time winner and last year's bronze medallist, is in Group E. For Macedonian handball this is the only regular European stage - and Pelister is the one carrying it.

A bid for Euro 2034: Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia together

The president of the Serbian Handball Federation Bozidar Djurkovic confirmed at the assembly that the three countries are going with a joint bid for the 2034 European Championship. Under the announced concept, each country would get two groups, with Serbia hosting the final weekend. "Honestly, we have a strong chance of hosting, all three countries have the organisational capacity," Djurkovic said. Eight years ahead sounds distant, but that is how the EHF divides its calendar - hosting rights are agreed when nobody yet knows what the national team will look like. Handball is Macedonia's most successful team sport and the only one with a serious audience, so the logic holds. The old question remains for every project of this kind here: the arenas. There is time until 2034 - exactly as much time as there is to spend it all.

Germany crushed Slovenia for gold at the cadet Euros

Germany won gold at the cadet European Championship in Serbia with a convincing 36:27 over Slovenia, who reached a final for the first time. The start belonged to Slovenia - an 8:5 lead and a timeout from the German coach in the 15th minute. Then came a 12:3 run and the story was finished before half-time. After the break the Germans scored three goals in three minutes and led by nine. Vincent Facijejev finished with 8 goals, and the tournament MVP is Slovenian right back Jaka Podvrsic, whose team was the only one unbeaten going into the final. The all-star team includes players from six nations - Germany, Iceland, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia and Israel. Top scorer is Jonatan Pelah of Israel with 97 goals.

Our cadets took five straight wins to ninth place

Macedonia's cadets closed the European Championship in ninth place, with five consecutive wins in the placement playoffs. In the final match they won 39:29 against Israel - a game that was in the balance until about ten minutes from the end, when at 29:28 a 10:0 run followed. The road to that ninth place began with the worst possible draw: a group with Slovenia, France and Sweden, and three defeats. Then Italy, Turkey, the Faroe Islands, Portugal and Israel fell. Five wins after three defeats says more about this generation's character than the final placing does. The next challenge is the cadet World Championship next year. What will decide whether this means anything does not happen on the court - it happens in whether these boys get minutes in senior squads.

Vardar season tickets at 4,500 denars, Tikves signed a Frenchman

RK Vardar has started selling season tickets - 4,500 denars for all home matches, including those in the Champions League, which will be played at the Jane Sandanski sports centre, while the rest go to the renovated Rasadnik hall. For matches at Europe's highest level that is a price that sounds reasonable here, and in Germany would buy a ticket to a single game. In Kavadarci, meanwhile, RK Tikves continues assembling a squad for the EHF European Cup - it signed Chamal Abdulla, a French international arriving from Libya's Al Ahly Benghazi. The Superliga this season is billed as the strongest in several years, and the transfers back that up: for the first time in a long while, clubs outside Skopje are bringing in foreigners who are not just squad filler.