Taleski Is Back in Ohrid, Vardar Returns to the Champions League, and the Youngsters Face a Tough Test in Romania

Taleski Is Back Home: "Eternal Talent" Strengthens RK Ohrid

The handball scene in Macedonia is buzzing again, and the subject is an old familiar one - Filip Taleski. The Macedonian international and left back has signed a contract with RK Ohrid for the 2026/2027 season, with an option to extend to 2028. The 30-year-old player (standing 202 cm) comes from Hungary's Tatabanya and will wear the shirt with the number 28. He is the club's eighth signing by the lake for the coming season. A player who has polarised the home public for years now returns to where many thought he should have been playing long ago - and Ohrid, with a move like this, makes it clear it has no intention of merely filling out the table.

Vardar Is Back in the Elite: After Four Years, Once More in the Champions League

After a four-year break, RK Vardar is once more among the best - the Macedonian champion has returned to the Champions League. The "red-and-blacks" have completed their squad with seven new names and in the new season will defend two titles: the domestic one and their place in the European elite. In Group B, Nantes, Melsungen and Plock will visit the "Jane Sandanski" Sports Centre. The return to the strongest club competition is proof that Vardar is slowly regaining its old weight - but the group is not easy, and the European elite forgives no one merely for a once-great name.

The Young Handballers Face a Tough Test at the Euros in Romania

While the clubs build their squads, the youngest generation is already battling on the court. Macedonia's men's youth team (U20) is competing at the EHF European Championship in Romania, played from 8 to 19 July in Cluj-Napoca and Turda, with as many as 24 nations. The start is tough: coach Igor Ilievski's selection lost the first game to Norway (31:36), and then to Croatia. Hope flickered until the 28th minute against the Croats, but a run by the opponent broke Macedonia. Painful defeats, but at tournaments like these a loss to peers from strong handball nations is part of the schooling - not the end of the story.

The European League With a New Format: 32 Clubs Await the Draw

The second-strongest European club competition is getting a refresh. For the 2026/2027 season, 32 clubs will start in the group stage of the EHF European League, and the draw is scheduled for 17 July. The new format carries five phases - group, play-off, round of 16, quarter-final and the EHF Finals - with matches from the end of September to the start of December. Teams eliminated from the Champions League group stage will later join the play-off. More phases mean more matches, and more matches mean more chances even for clubs that otherwise struggle to reach the big nights.

Spain and Hungary With Titles at Beach Handball in Zagreb

While the halls empty out in summer, the sand is full. At the youth beach handball tournament in Zagreb, Spain took the men's title and Hungary the women's - two teams confirming that the beach variant has long been not just summer fun but a serious school for young talents. Beach handball, faster and flashier than the indoor game, is slowly building its audience in the Balkans too. For a region that breathes sport all year round, another discipline in which the neighbours fight for a medal is only good news - and reason enough among us to ask when ours will catch step in the sand too.