The German women’s handball champion SG BBM Bietigheim has prematurely qualified for the main round of the Champions League.
In front of the home crowd, coach Martin Albertsen’s team won on Sunday with 27:21 (12:10) on the penultimate matchday of the group stage against the Montenegrin record holder ZRK Buducnost Podgorica.
With the third victory, SG BBM secured a position among the top three and thus entered the round of the Top Twelve. In the last match the French champion Metz Handball is waiting for the team to lead Group D first.
The Thuringian HC, on the other hand, suffered a setback. The runners-up missed the chance to enter the main round early. Instead, the Bundesliga front runner is on the verge of losing out in his own arena against the Norwegian champion HK Larvik after the 22:25 (10:14) in the preliminary round.
With their first victory, the Norwegians caught up to the equal points THC. Both teams will be able to claim third place in the group of four on the sixth matchday.
In the sixth game, however, coach Herbert Müller’s team will face the unbeaten group leader ZRK Vardar SCBT from Skopje/Macedonia. The first leg was lost at home by the THC 21:29.