Romanian women handball team U Jolidon managed an exceptional performance on Sunday night, beating at home field Russian team Rostov- Don 23-22 (13-11) and qualifying for the first time in the club history in the Champions League groups where they will join Oltchim Rm Valcea, already qualifiedThe hosts delight their vociferous fans with a pleasant surprise, defeating a more heralded opponent, according to eurohandball.com.Florentina Cartas was the hero of the day for Universitatea Jolidon Cluj with nine goals and Ani Senocico rifled in five for the home team, who will join last season’s finalist Gyori Audi ETO of Hungary, Slovenia’s Krim Mercator and Croatian champions Podravka Vegeta Koprivnica in Group B. Marina Yartseva complemented her fine semi-final performance with another superb display for Rostov, garnished by seven goals for the Russians. Vladlena Bobrovnikova and Regina Shymkute scored five each for the losing finalists.“Of course we are very happy, we qualified for the groups’ stage for the first time, including me as coach, this is my first experience of this kind and I’m proud. But the difficult part starts now. We’ll have a terribly difficult schedule. The battle on two fronts is very difficult and we have a small line-up. We entered an infernal group. Of course we want good games and results but we have to be realistic,” U Cluj coach Gheorghe Covaciu stated for Mediafax after the game. “I talked with the leadership about the obligation of strengthening the team. We urgently need a goalkeeper and a valuable pivot. We will contact all sports managing agencies because the registering for the Champions League has to be made before the first game on October 14,” he pointed out.“It was an infernal game. It’s a great joy for the Cluj-based team but also for Romania. For the first time we have two teams in the Champions League groups, the entire U Jolidon team takes the credit for this performance. I congratulate the girls but also the fans that pushed them forward towards their first qualification for the Champions League groups,” Romanian Handball Federation President Cristian Gatu stated in his turn.
previous post
