Hammarby second in Denmark

Swedish champions, Hammarby Handboll, regained their self-confidence (at least partly) after the 45-31 defeat that they suffered against Danish KIF Kolding last week.

Now they finished second in a training tournament in the Danish town, Silkeborg. The tournament of four teams was won by the hosts, Danish Bjerringbro/Silkeborg, with Hammarby coming in second. Norwegian Sandefjord was third and Icelandic Haukar Haffnarfjördur finished last.

Apelgren back

It meant a lot to Hammarby that their key player, Michael Apelgren, was back again after recovering from a sore throat that did not allow him to play against Kolding. With Apelgren in the team, Hammarby started the tournament in Silkeborg with a 36-31 win over Sandefjord.

In their second match, Hammarby lost 34-32 against Bjerringbro/Silkeborg. The last match against Haukar ended with a narrow 33-32 win for the Swedish champions – the team of famous former Swedish international and THW Kiel star, Staffen Olsson.

In the first group stage of the Champions League, Hammarby will face Champions League winners THW Kiel, last season’s French number two, Montpellier HB, and Romanian champions HCM Constanta. The Romanian team are the first to go on from the qualification matches.