[b]Picks from Round 6 of Group Play (Results)[/b]
Celje vs Gummersbach (+3.5) Bet 200 on Ciudad Real at 1.85 (31-29) WIN 170
Kadetten Schaufa vs. Szeged (+1.5) Bet 100 on Szeged at 1.85 (22-23) WIN 85
Medvedi (-3.5) vs. Flensburg Bet 100 on Medvedi at 1.85 (33-27) WIN 85
Montepellier (-4.5) vs. Valladolid Bet 200 on Montpellier at 1.90 (29-29) LOSE 200
Gain/Loss: +140 Euros

[b]Season[/b]
200 Euro Bets 5-5; -200
100 Euro Bets 6-4; +100
Current Bankroll: 900 Euros (Started with a 1000)

A 3-1 performance to finish off pool play, but we're still down a 100 Euros for the season. Hopefully some strong plays will put me and Miguel on the plus side this weekend.

[b]This Week's Picks[/b]

Odds courtesy of Nordicbet: www.nordicbet.com

Saturday, 2 December (All times CET)
14:45 Chehovski Medvedi – VfL Gummersbach H(0.00 – 3.50) 1.95 1.75
16:10 Fotex KC Veszprém – KIF Kolding H(0.00 – 4.50) 1.80 1.90
18:00 Celje Pivovarna Lasko – SG Flensburg-Handewitt H(0.00 – 2.50) 1.95 1.75

Sunday, 3 December
13:00 SC Pick Szeged – BM. Valladolid H(0.00 – 1.50) 2.00 1.72
16:00 RK Gold Club Kozina – Portland San Antonio H(4.50 – 0.00) 2.00 1.72
16:20 GOG Svendborg TGI – Ciudad Real H(4.50 – 0.00) 1.90 1.80
17:00 Montpellier HB – FC Barcelona H(0.00 – 2.50) 2.05 1.68

Monday, 4 December
20:00 Chambery Savoie – THW Kiel H(4.50 – 0.00) 2.00 1.72

[b]Veszprem vs. Kolding[/b]
Kolding’s first loss of the season in the Danish league at midweek and injuries to Sebastian Seifert and Boris Schnuchel are not good signs for the Danish Champion. Add to the fact that their 5-0-1 mark in group play was primarily due to drawing the weakest group. Meanwhile Veszprem trounced fellow Hungarian Champions League entrant Pick Szeged by 12 goals in their recent clash. Logic dictates that if they can do it to Pick they can do the same to Kolding. Maybe not 12 goals, but 6 or 7 and that’s enough.
BET: 100 Euros on Veszprem (-4.5 goals at 1.80)

[b]GOG Svendborg TGI – Ciudad Real [/b]
They meet again in the Round of 16, 2 years after Ciudad Real trounced them 29-45 on their home floor. Ciudad Real has injury problems now with Rutenka, Fis and Zorman, but their bench is very deep. Recently, they didn’t have any problem defeating Altea, a similar GOG Svendborg level team, 22-29. Meanwhile GOG Svendborg has lost two games in Denmark. This will be a very easy double victory in both games for Ciudad Real.
BET: 200 Euros on Ciudad Real (-4.5 goals at 1.80)

[b]Montpellier vs. Barcelona[/b]
Barcelona had a terrible defeat at Portland San Antonio last week. Key players such as Romero, Nagy or Garcia are not playing well and their goalies Barrufet ,and especially Losert are having a terrible season so far. Montpellier hasn't lost a european competition home game since they lost to Kiel in 1999 and while they have been erratic this season they are a tough team at home. It also appears that Wissem Hmam is fully recovered from his hand injury. Although we are taking Montpellier in the first leg our expectation is that the second leg at Palau Blaugrana will yield an aggregate victory for Barcelona.
BET: 100 Euros on Montpellier (-2.5 goals at 2.05)

[b]Chambery vs. Kiel[/b]
Kiel is missing Karabatic, but they simply have way too many weapons to have much trouble with Chambery. Chambery has been erratic all year and has lost several games against weaker opposition. They will have to bring their “A” game to have any chance of keeping the score close. And I put the odds of them bringing their A game at about 10%. Bank on Kiel to turn this one into a yawner early.
BET: 200 Euros on Kiel (-4.5 goals at 1.72)

Last Friday, 25 November 2006, a new and important acronym was added to the Team Handball vernacular- the GCH. The GCH or Group Club Handball was formally established at a meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany. The GCH is modeled after soccer’s G14 of elite clubs and seeks to represent the interests of the major European clubs. The 14 “self anointed” clubs are:

Kiel (Germany)
Flensburg (Germany)
Madgeburg (Germany)
Lemgo (Germany)
Ciudad Real (Spain)
Portland San Antonio (Spain)
Barcelona (Spain)
Ademar Leon (Spain)
Montpellier (France)
Celje (Slovenia)
Kolding (Denmark)
Veszprem (Hungary)
Zagreb (Croatia)
Medvedi (Russia)

This membership was principally based upon having won a European Cup since 2000, but new members may be added in the future based on performance. Additionally, Kolding, Veszprem and Zagreb were added based on the prominent role those countries have in
the handball world.

GCH leaders, in interviews have emphasized their desire to work with the EHF and IHF on a number of different issues and that their mode of operations would be “cooperation instead of confrontation.” There are a number of different issues where the GCH will likely play a major role in the near future. Those issues include:

– The EHF’s proposed 4 year cycle for the World Championship
– The total number of games top players are expected to play for club and national team competitions
– The IHF’s proposed World League of Clubs
– The EHF’s future plans for the Champions League (both in terms of marketing and structure)

Sources: (in German)
http://www.handballwoche.de/nncs/handballwoche/2006/11/22/4968200000.html
http://www.handballwoche.de/nncs/handball/2006/11/25/4992400000.html

The EHF-IHF impasse over IHF plans for a new qualification format for the World Championships and a World League appears to not be heading towards a peaceful resolution. At the EHF Presidents meeting in Vienna last week 47 EHF members agreed to propose 12 motions at the next IHF Congress in April 2007. Foremost, the EHF is proposing that the IHF be restructured and that an Extraordinary Congress be held 3 months later to hold new elections. These motions raise the stakes significantly for the IHF leadership as they are essentially a threat to vote them out of office halfway into their 4 year term.
http://home.eurohandball.com/ehf_files/ehf_news/NEWS2006/159_1911.pdf

According to Article 14 of the IHF By-laws http://www.ihf.info/upload/PDF-Download/Regulations/01_-_Bylaws.pdf only a simple majority is required to request an Extraordinary Congress. The IHF has 160 members, so the EHF with 47 members can not reach a majority alone. Hence their recent meetings with the Asian and African Federations to develop a consensus majority voting block.

Additionally, the EHF is also proposing to hold the World Championships only once every four years. The proposed sequence of events would be

2012 Olympics
2013 Continental Championships
2014 World Championships
2015 Continental Championships

As far as when this change would take place, the EHF article does not go into detail. The 2009 World Championships have already been awarded (Croatia- Men, China- Women), but they could probably be moved to 2010. Additionally, the EHF has already awarded their 2010 European championships. As the Continental Championships would move to odd years a transition, in which there is either a short 1 year or long 3 year gap would have to be decided upon

Previous reports on this issue:
13 September 2006: EHF Sues IHF Over New World Championship Qualification Tournaments https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.145
26 October 2006: EHF/IHF Impasse and the Proposed World League https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.177

So do you think you know your Handball? Specifically, Champions League Handball? Here’s your chance to prove it. Predict the winners for the Round of 16 knockout stage and the margin of victory (total goal aggregate for both games) for each of the 8 matchups.

[b]How to Enter: [/b] Click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=107952898636

[b]Contest Scoring:[/b]
Correct Club: 5 points
Correct Club and margin of victory (10 points)

[b]Prizes:[/b] Right now, just simply bragging rights. We are, however, looking for a sponsor. If interested please let us know.

One entry per email address please

Here’s some very quick analysis on the Draw. We will provide more detail soon.

[b]Most Compelling:[/b] These two matchups should provide the most drama. Both Veszprem and Montpellier are more than capable of knocking out the higher seed.

Montpellier vs Barcelona
Veszprem vs Kolding

[b]Could be Interesting: [/b] The top seeds will be favored, but the second seeds have a legitimate chance to advance. They will need to get a good victory at home in the first match and then hold back the flood waters in the return match.

Pick Szeged vs Valladolid
Celje vs Flensburg
Chehovskie Medvedi vs Gummersbach

[b]Least Suspenseful: [/b] It would take a massive upset for the two Spanish sides and Kiel to get knocked out

Gold Club Kozina vs Portland San Antonio
GOG Svendborg vs Ciudad Real
Chambery vs Kiel