EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR

Group B is still wide open after the fifth round. Viborg HK won 27-23against Hypo Niederösterreich and defended the second place, but is equal onpoints with Volgograd. That means that nothing is settled in terms of whichteams will end up in the quarter finals. Three teams could reach the firstplace, but also end up with a disappointing third place.

The Viborg-victory against Hypo on Saturday was historic. It is thefirst victory against Hypo for more than 7 years – and the first Viborg-victoryon Danish soil ever!

It was a very close race until the middle of the second-half. Viborgremained only a short step ahead, and even lost the lead halfway through thefirst half. Hypo led 11-10, but soon after Viborg was in the lead again. Halfwaythrough the game Viborg had the lead. 15-12.

The close clash continued in the second half, but only for ten minutes.At that time Anda Bilobrk had a two minute suspension and that kick startedeight golden minutes for Viborg with playmaker Lotte Kiærskou as the leadingplayer. She and Grit Jurack both scored seven times. With twelve minutes leftViborg had a six goal lead, 24-18. In the dying minutes the Austrian championsreduced the Viborg lead, and the match ended 27-23.

The match was primarily settled in the defence. For longer periodsViborg succeeded in keeping both Tanja Logvin and Gabriella Rotis out of grasp.But Hypo was as always smart and continued to show new openings. Anda Bilobrkand line player Simona Spiridon were everlasting threats.

The Danish defence expert Rikke Skov was a essential player for theDanish team: “It was a tough match – but a fair match with two very good teams.I was a bit nervous before the match, as it was extremely important that we hasa win. Now we can reach the quarter-final ourselves and do not have to rely onother results.”

Text: Jens Ole Sorensen