Flensburg first, Pelister second on the EHF list

The European Handball Federation has published its list of favourites for the EHF European League, and in second place is a Macedonian club. First is Flensburg-Handewitt under Aleš Pajović, with Simon Pytlick, Marko Grgić and Emil Jakobsen. Right behind them is Eurofarm Pelister under Lino Červar. The Bitola side have strengthened with Nik Henigman and Rudolf Hackbarth, and their squad also includes national team players Filip Kuzmanovski and Nikola Mitrevski. Third is Gummersbach, fourth Croatia's Nexe. The group stage starts on 29 September: 32 teams fight for 16 places in the knockout round, later joined by another 14 from the Champions League. A list of favourites isn't a trophy - but when the EHF puts you right behind Flensburg, the expectations are no longer just Bitola's.

Norway the hunted in Bucharest

For the first time, the women's EHF EURO Cup will crown its champion at a final tournament, this weekend in Bucharest. One semi-final is Norway vs Hungary, the other Denmark vs hosts Romania (Saturday, 4pm). Since the competition was introduced in 2022, Norway haven't lost a single one of 18 matches and have lifted the trophy twice, with Henny Reistad top scorer on 35 goals. Romania are one of the five co-hosts of EHF EURO 2026, together with Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Turkey, and the only one of them to reach the finals. The question isn't whether anyone will beat Norway, but whether anyone actually believes they can.

Tikveš knocked out by a Luxembourg side - at home

Macedonia's representative in the EHF European Cup didn't get past the first round. GRK Tikveš lost to Luxembourg's Handball Esch 59:61 on aggregate in a tie played entirely in Macedonia - the 27:30 defeat in the first leg couldn't be overturned by a 32:31 win in the second. Montenegro's Sutjeska fared no better, knocked out by another Luxembourg club, Berchem. So Luxembourg, a country hardly anyone expects handball surprises from, has sent two teams into the second round. When both games are at home and you still go out, there's no excuse about travel or hostile crowds.

Montenegro too strong for the national team in Ohrid

After a convincing 29:21 win over Serbia in the opener, Macedonia's women's national team suffered their first defeat at the "Macedonia Trophy" tournament at the Biljanini Izvori sports centre in Ohrid. Montenegro won 29:23, building a lead in the first half that they held to the end. Our players kept pace only at the start, followed by a slump they never recovered from. Top scorer again was Sara Ristovska with eight goals. Today is the final test, against Croatia, who beat Serbia 28:15. Friendly tournaments exist exactly for this - to see how far we are from the teams we consider our equals.

Ohrid and Pelister on top, Vardar waits

Round four of the Super League passed without surprises. Eurofarm Pelister beat the club's second team 35:24, with six goals from Kalajdžiovski and five from Serafimov, while for the youngsters Hristijan Mitrevski scored eight. GRK Ohrid flattened Prilep 34:18, conceding just nine goals in each half, for their third win of the season. The two teams now sit on top with three wins each and a draw in their head-to-head, but Vardar and Alkaloid have a perfect three from three and play their round-four games this weekend. The real test for the "gladiators" comes on 3 October, away at champions Vardar. Will the big wins against weaker sides mean anything in the champions' hall?