The 2021 EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup reached its conclusion in early October, and fans of the up-and-coming sport were treated to incredible displays of athleticism by teams from all over Europe.
For those unfamiliar with the event, the Champions Cup is the culmination of the 2021 season for beach handball, an exciting sport that has been making waves across Europe and beyond. The island of Sicily hosted the finals this year, inviting teams from ten different European nations to put their skills to the test during four days of intense competition.
This year’s final was a special one, since the 2020 finals were cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Players were eager to put two years of training to the test.
A total of fifteen men’s teams and twelve women’s teams qualified to compete in Sicily’s Isola delle Femmine, a Mediterranean paradise on the island’s north-west coast. The competition started by splitting the men’s teams into three groups of five teams each, while the women’s teams were divided into two groups of six. The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-final stage, where they faced one another.
The reigning champions of the men’s teams, BM Playa Sevilla, were absent from the event, so their Spanish neighbors, 2016 champions CBMP Ciudad de Malaga, were early favorites to bring home the final trophy. Three Portuguese clubs were also favored to put up a fight.
On the women’s end, the 2019 champions GEA AM Team Almeria returned to defend their title. The 2019 runners up, Italy’s Blue Team, was expected to make them work for it.
Day One
The initial games in women’s group A saw GEA AM Team Almeria once again beat the Blue Team following a victory against the German team CAIPIranhas. Portugal’s Love Tiles and Denmark’s Hadsten Beach Handball also cruised through back-to-back victories, securing spots in the quarter-finals.
Only two teams in group B won both matches, one of them being 2018 winners LV Sport Multichem Szentendrei NKE of Hungary. The team achieved decisive victories against both Germany’s Beach Unicorns and Portugal’s Escola de Formação de Espinho – Os Tigres.
For the men, Group A’s CBMP Ciudad de Malaga fulfilled their promise on opening day, winning matches against Germany’s Beachmopeten and Italy’s Blue Team, the latter of which ended with an exciting shootout.
Group B was dominated by Hungary’s HIR-SAT BHC, who won a close match by shootout against V. Gaw of Portugal, then an easier victory against London Beach Handball.
Teams who only won one of their initial matches were forced to fight for the remaining spots on day two.
Day Two
For men’s group A, Portugal’s Escola de Formação de Espinho – Os Tigres barely managed to beat Germany’s Beachmopeten in a dramatic shootout on day two. They followed this victory with another against CBMP Ciudad de Malaga, who suffered their first loss of the competition. Malaga’s star player Jorge Rivero managed to net 58 points for his team. Beachmopeten also squeezed into the final slot of the quarter finals.
HIR-SAT BHC continued their winning streak against both Odese Region and Dutch HVC. Adam Fekete led the team with a staggering 63 total points, making him the overall top scorer as of the end of day two. V. Gaw also managed to secure the final position of the quarterfinals.
Poland’s BHT Petra Plock dominated group C by winning all of their games, though the BHC Sand Devils gave them a run for their victory. Portugal’s Cincomaisum A.C. nabbed the final spot in the quarter-finals.
The women’s side of the tournament saw some dramatic games. GEA AM Team Almeria suffered the first loss in a match against Hadsten Beach Handball. They did, however, managed to hang on to the top rank. For group A as a whole, the top three teams tied with only one loss each. Hungary’s Strandepitok Girls landed the final spot for the group.
LV Sport Multichem Szentendrei dominated group B on day two, winning all five of their games. They landed a spot against their fellow Hungarians in the quarter-final. Minga Turtles also excelled on day two, netting 225 points between games on the first two days, the greatest total of any team.
Day Three
The tournament’s third day saw total domination on the part of Iberian teams. Malaga kicked off the day by defeating Poland’s BHT Petra Plock in back-to-back sets, then won a much closer game against HIR-SAT BHC, which ended in nail-biting shootout. Miguel Rueda was the team’s MVP, scoring 33 points between the two games.
V. Gaw’s victories were much closer, both of which ended in shootouts against the BHC Sand Devils and their fellow Portuguese team Formacao de Espinhos – Os Tigres.
Previous champions GEA A.M. Almeria proved their last title was no fluke. The quarter-finals saw them defeating the Beach Unicorns in two sets while the semi-finals brought them a greater challenge in LV Sport Multichem Szentendrei NKE. Spectators were on the edge of their seats during the final shootout, but Almeria reigned supreme.
Day Four
The tension was palpable on the day of the finals, with four Iberian teams battling their neighbors for the coveted titles.
V. Gaw was eager to win their first title, but Malaga proved why they were the 2016 winners. The Portuguese players put up an intense fight, but Malaga managed to maintain their lead through both sets and come out victorious. However, V. Gaw was proud to be the first Portuguese men’s team to ever reach a Champions Cup final.
Fans of GRD Leca – Love Tiles were dazzled by a spectacular performance against Almeria, the previous title holders. Star players Beatriz Correia and Sara Pinho led the team to a dramatic victory with a combined 37 points, denying the Spanish team the pleasure of another title. Leca, who played incredibly throughout the entire tournament, are the well-deserved winners of not only the title itself, but the title of first Portuguese team ever to win an EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup title.
It was an exciting tournament, made all the more dramatic by two years of pent-up desire to compete. Next year, we’ll find out if Malaga and Leca are able to maintain their titles.
