ehfTV.com www.ehftv.com will broadcast two national team friendly matches on Thursday, 29 October. The first match is Sweden vs. Denmark and the second has hosts Germany taking on Norway. The matches are at the Laxness Arena in Cologne and are part of those team’s preparation for the European Championships in January.

1815 CET Sweden vs. Denmark
2030 CET Germany vs. Norway

Be advised that the normal 6 hour difference between CET and the USA East Coast is currently only 5 hours due to the U.S. not ending Daylight Savings Time until Sunday. ehfTV should also have the matches available for on-demand viewing either later on Thursday night or Friday morning. On-demand viewing might be the preferable option as the matches are not available on German TV and a flood of users could create a bandwidth challenge.

Plenty of matches worth watching so far in Round 2. I say, “so far” because I still haven’t seen Barcelona-Kiel. Here’s a rundown on the ones I think are worth watching.

HCM Constanta VS Montpellier HB: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000682
There’s not enough hours in a day to watch every match at efhTV, so when I check out a match between a heavyweight (Montpellier) and a would be lightweight (Romania’s Constanta) I typically fast forward 5 minutes at a time just to make sure that it’s the predictable blowout that it’s supposed to be. True to form this match started out that way, but I soon found myself rewinding to figure out just what in the heck happened. Sorry, to give away some of the match, but trust me, it’s still worth checking out.

Rhein-Neckar Löwen VS KS Vive Targi Kielce: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000716
Germany’s Rhein-Neckar hosts Poland’s Kielce in a battle for Group B supremacy.

HSV Hamburg VS BM Ciudad Real: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000685
A repeat of one of last year’s semifinal matchups. It’s very early in group play but the head to head matches between these two sides could very well decide who gets the number one seed in Group C.

Pick Szeged VS A.C. PAOK: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000737
Greek side A.C. PAOK was crushed by 26 goals vs. Montpellier last week. Can they make a more respectable showing visiting Hungary’s Pick Szeged?

RK Gorenje VS HC Bosna BH Gas: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000740
Can the upstart Bosnians make it two upsets in a row with a victory on the road in Slovenia?

Pevafersa Valladolid VS Chekhovskie Medvedi: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000739

More matches are available at ehfTV: www.ehftv.com
And if you can’t wait for the results, score and reports are here: http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/

Group Play has started in the Champions League and efhTV.com broadcast 11 games over the weekend. For the most part the games were predictable and lopsided, but there were a couple of matches worth viewing. If your time is limited just toggle the play bar towards the end of the matches.

HC Bosna BH Gas VS Chambery Savoie HB: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000694
The 2nd best French side, Chambery traveled to Sarajevo to take on the lower seeded HC Bosna BH Gas. The French league is clearly better than the Bosnian league, but Chambery minus Daniel Narcisse is not the team they were last year.

Rhein-Neckar Löwen VS MKB Veszprém KC: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000679
Rhein-Neckar was the 3rd best side in Germany last year, but is off to a slow start this season in the Bundesliga. They hosted the perennial Hungarian participant in the Champions League, Veszprem.

Pick Szeged VS Chekhovskie Medvedi: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000693
Hungary’s other top side played host to Russia’s perennial participant

KS Vive Targi Kielce VS RK Gorenje: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000678
Poland’s new top Club welcomed Slovenian side Gorenje

If you can't wait or don't have time to watch, scores and write-ups on the matches are available here: http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/

Reale Ademar (Leon, Spain) is hosting a key Champions League qualification tournament this weekend. Also participating in the tournament are TBV Lemgo (Germany), Celje (Slovenia) and Kadetten (Switzerland). Due to the shrinkage of the initial field to 24 teams one qualification tournament among top flight teams had to be organized. The winner of this tournament will make the field, the rest will be assigned to another European tournament.

Games are scheduled Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the likely pivotal Reale Ademar – TBV Lemgo match scheduled for 1830 Central European Time on Sunday night. The on-demand link is available below.

Friday Results
Kadetten 30 – 29 Lemgo (Somebody forgot to tell Kadetten that they were the also ran team)
Reale Ademar 26 – 25 Celje

Saturday
Kadetten 27 -27 Reale Ademar
Celje 28 -27 Lemgo

Sunday
Celje 27-31 Kadetten
Reale Ademar vs. Lemgo [b]VIDEO:[/b] http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000673

Scenarios
Kadetten finished with 5 pts and an overall goal differential of +5. If Reale Ademar wins they will also finish with 5 pts. They currently are +1 in goal differential so they need to win by 5 goals to qualify. Should they win by exactly 4 goals the next tie breaker is total goals scored. Kadetten finished with 88 goals. This means Reale Ademar will need to score 36 goals to win with only a 4 goal victory

The EHF has announced the results of another arbitration decision. This time the case revolves around a 2009 World Championship qualification match between Romania and Montenegro held on June 14, 2008 in Oradea, Romania. In the first match of the two game aggregate series Montenegro defeated Romania 31-27 in Montenegro. Prior to the second match in Romania the Danish officials, Martin Gjeding and Mads Hansen, were offered money (reportedly 30,000 Euros each) by the vice-president of the Romanian Handball Federation, Mr. Palau Petre and by the Romanian National Team coach, Mr. Aihan Omer to secure a favorable result for Romania. The Danish referees reportedly declined the offer and informed both the EHF and Danish Federation officials of the said solicitation immediately after the match. The match was won by Romania 29-24, resulting in Romania qualifying for the World Championships on aggregate 56-55.

Despite the Danish officials report, the EHF took no action immediately following the solicitation. Later, following the media reports of the Flensburg – Kiel scandal, Gjeding and Hansen reported the alleged solicitation again to EHF officials. As a result of their subsequent investigation the EHF has banned Omer and Petre from international and EHF competitions for 5 years. The Romanian Federation has been fined 27,500 Euros and their Men’s National Team has been “punished” with the threat of a two year exclusion for the next four years. In simple terms this means that Romania could be excluded from competition for two years if they get caught again sometime in the next four years.

EHF: Arbitration decision: case of the Romanian Handball Federation: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12482
EHF: Romania – Montenegro Match Detail: http://www.eurohandball.com/wch/men/2009/match/2/010
Handball-World (German) Manipulation attempts: Romania's national coach banned for 5 years:
http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=21478

The EHF released an official statement imposing penalites on Russian Handball Club, Chekov Medvedi and top German referee pair Frank Lemme and Bernd Ullrich. Chekov was fined 25,000 Euros and "with the threat of 2 years exclusion from all international handball competition suspended for a period of four years." Lemme and Ullrich will not be allowed to officiate EHF matches for 5 years. (Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the EHF's clarification of their official statement. Chekov is not immediately excluded from competition, but under threat for the next four years.)

The match in question is the 2nd leg of the 2005-06 EHF Cupwinners’ Cup Final. In the first leg in Spain on April 24, 2006, Valladolid beat Chekov, 36-29 for a 7 goal aggregate lead. At the return leg in Russia, Lemme and Ulrich were approached by an unidentified person with an offer of money during warm-ups prior to the start of the match on April 29, 2006. Chekov won the 2nd leg match by 8 goals, 32-24, thus winning the Cupwinnners’ Cup Championship by an aggregate score of 61-60. At the airport returning home Customs officials discovered $50,000 cash in one of their suitcases. Lemme and Ulrich deny ever having seen the bag before it was checked, but they fully acknowledge that they were spoken to before the match by an individual they refuse to identify because as Ullrich told Handball-World, “we also have quite a respect for the possible consequences." Lemme in the same interview further explained by adding, "Yes, murderous respect even if you know what I mean. You never know what yet everything happens."

Lemme/Ullrich have been Germany’s top officiating pair for several years and officiated the Gold Medal Game in Beijing. At ages 46 and 47 the 5 year sentence could mean the end of their officiating career. According to Handball-World they will likely appeal the sentence and they have support from at least some officials in German Federation and HBL.

Waiting in the wings is the highest profile case involving Kiel’s alleged manipulation of the Champions League final vs. Flensburg from 2007.

EHF Official Statement: EHF Arbitration Tribunal takes final decision in prominent case: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12472
2005-06 Cupwinners’ Cup Results: http://www.eurohandball.com/ec/cwc/men/2005-06/round/7
Handball-World: "Five years is a heavy punishment" – Lemme / Ullrich consider appeal:http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=21402
Handball-World: Lemme / Ullrich blocked for five years: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=21387

The EHF and Norwegian TV are providing live web streaming of matches from the European Beach Handball Championships from Larvik, Norway. On demand matches are also available at the site.

Norway TV2: http://webtv.tv2.no/webtv/sumo/?treeId=2791
Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/beacheuro2009

Kiel’s 39-34 win in the first leg gives them a distinct edge in winning the overall battle on aggregate. Not an insurmountable deficit, but a challenging one for Ciudad Real even on their home floor. Here’s a few observations and things to look for in the 2nd leg.

[b]Kiel’s fast play:[/b] Kiel’s ability to immediately restart on offense after made goals and turnovers was a critical difference in the last match. Not only did it lead to several goals, but it also kept the world’s top court defender, Didier Dinart, sitting on the sidelines and hopelessly watching even when Kiel pulled up on the fast break and set up their offense. (Memo to Dinart: The offense to defense switch can’t always be made: work on your offensive skills so that the coach can decide to keep you in the game)

[b]Emergence of Filip Jicha:[/b] He’s always been a good player, but this season he’s taken it to another level. Watching Jicha in the past it’s been too much hit or miss in his performance. A powerful jump shot has always been there, but so to were too many turnovers and ill advised shots. It will be very interesting to see how he performs next year, though, without Karabatic by his side.

[b]5 goal or 6 goal deficit?: [/b] Watch the pace of the game to see if Ciudad Real will need a 5 or 6 goal victory. The key number is 34 (Ciudad Real’s away goal total). If Kiel is on a pace for 35 or more goals, Ciudad Real will need to win by 6.

[b]Bonus Games:[/b] ehfTV is providing coverage of the game again, but is also showing the 2nd legs of the EHF Cup and the Cupwinners Cup matches. The Champions League match, however, won’t be available in many countries due to TV restrictions. The full match was available, however, about 24 hours later. If you want to watch without knowing the score check back here for the link to the video.

[b]Schedule[/b]
2nd Leg Kiel at Ciudad Real Sunday, 31 May at 1800 CET [b]VIDEO: [/b] http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000608
(SPOILER ALERT: The photo of the game gives away the outcome. Cover the screen with a sheet of paper then click on the photo to avoid finding out what happens.)

[b]Updated Odds [/b](Courtesy of Best Betting http://eu.bestbetting.com/handball/ehf-champions-league/2008-2009/winner/)

[u]To Win the Champions League[/u]
Kiel (-400) (Bet $400 to win $100)
Ciudad Real (+255) (Bet 100 to win $250)

[u]To win 2nd leg[/u]
Ciudad Real (-286)
Kiel (+350)

[u]2nd Leg Handicap (point spread)[/u]
Ciudad Real (-3)

The EHF has struck some last minute deals that will see the Champions League final broadcast live on ESPN360 in the U.S. and on Setanta Africa. ESPN360 is a web based platform that first broadcast handball matches from the Men’s World Championship in January. Setanta Africa is available in 17, sub Saharan African nations, many of which will have live broadcast of club matches for the first time ever.

In addition, ehfTV has decided to include English language commentary from former Irish National team player, Tom O'Brannigan, for their web based platform. Previous broadcast had only included court and crowd audio. The one negative drawback to the expanded coverage is that the live broadcast at ehfTV.com will be geoblocked in the U.S. and other countries with TV coverage. On the bright side, the EHF has informed Team Handball News that the on-demand broadcast of the match will still be available at ehfTV.com several hours after the match.

EHF News Release: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12363
ESPN360: http://espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/index
Setanta Africa: http://www.setanta.com/africa/Broadcasters/

After 84 games in group play and knock out competition, the 2 clubs remaining are the 2 clubs everyone expected: Spain’s Ciudad Real and Germany’s THW Kiel. Both sides are clearly the best teams in their respective leagues so it is a true heavyweight battle. Last year Ciudad Real got the best of Kiel in the Final winning 58-54 on aggregate as the two clubs traded losses on their home floors. This year the 2 clubs also met during Main Round Group play with Kiel winning the first match 33-26 and Ciudad Real winning the 2nd 35-33 It should be noted, however, that the 2nd match was a “throw away game” in that both teams were already guaranteed to advance to the quarterfindals and the outcome didn’t matter.

[b]Schedule[/b]
1st Leg Ciudad Real at Kiel Sunday, 24 May at 1845 CET Video: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000607
2nd Leg Kiel at Ciudad Real Sunday, 31 May at 1800 CET

Courtesy of ehfTV.com www.ehftv.com both matches will be available for viewing at no charge either live or on tape delay. Live availibity, however is subject to restrictions for those nations where TV coverage is available. Tape delay is usually available several hours after the completion of each match. Check this site for the link to the tape delay video, if you want to avoid finding out the final score.

[b]Kiel (2008-2009) Resume[/b]
HBL Record 31 Wins, 1 Draw, 1 Loss
Champions League Record 13 Wins, 1 draw, 2 Losses
German Cup Champion

[b]Ciudad Real (2008-2009) Resume[/b]
Liga Asobal Record (28 Wins, 2 Losses)
Champions League Record (14 Wins, 2 losses)
Spanish Cup Runner up

[b]Recent Head to Head competition[/b]
[u]Last year’s Champions League Final[/u]
4 May 2008 Ciudad Real 27 29 Kiel
11 May 2008 Kiel 25 31 Ciudad Real
Ciudad won on aggregate 58-54

[u]Main Round matches in this year’s competition[/u]
22 February 2009 Kiel 33 26 Ciudad Real
7 March 2009 Ciudad Real 35 33 Kiel

[b]Odds[/b] (Courtesy of Best Betting http://eu.bestbetting.com/handball/)

[u]To Win the Champions League[/u]
Kiel (-118) (Bet $118 to win $100)
Ciudad Real (+125) (Bet 100 to win $125)

[u]To win 1st leg[/u]
Ciudad Real (-270)
Kiel (+400)

[u]1st Leg Handicap (point spread)[/u]
Ciudad Real (-3)

[b]ehfTV.com Video Previews[/b]
Analysis of Matchup by Spanish and Germany National team coaches: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000627
Kiel’s Road to the Final: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000625
Ciudad Real’s Road to the Final: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000626

Two big games this weekend as the semifinals of the European Champions League get under way. On Saturday, Hamburg hosts Ciudad Real in a rematch of last year’s semifinal. Last year, Ciudad Real, the eventual champion, edged Hamburg on aggregate, 60-59 over two matches. Sunday’s match features heavily favored Kiel hosting Rhein-Necker Lowen and Jackson Richardson.

Saturday 25 April 1700 CET Ciudad Real at Hamburg Video Link: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000565
Audio Commentary: https://teamhandballnews.com/request55.html (Right click to listen on your computer/left click to download)
– Audio commentary needs to be synched with the efhtv.com video. Depending on your computer's setup, you may be able to play both the audio and video simultaneously. Alternatively, you can download the audio file to an MP3 player.

Sunday 26 April 1730 CET Rhein-Neckar Lowen at Kiel Video Link: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000566

EhfTV.com www.ehftv.com will be providing live and tape delayed web streaming of the matches for free. Subject to video availability and personal time constraints I will try to post an audio commentary of the Hamburg – Ciudad Real game on Saturday evening.

It appears that retired French handball icon Jackson Richardson will return to action professionally, following his Miami Coupe De La Ligue All Star game appearance, later this afternoon (17:00 EDT).

Jackson just confirmed that he did indeed sign a two month contract with HBL's Rhein-Neckar Lowen. He is set to report to the German club on Monday. April 13th.

This sets up a unique matchup between fomer retired French MNT teammates, as Richardson (Rhein-Neckar) will face Martini (Kiel) in a the CL semi final round.

The ESPN franchise has several different channels and one of them, ESPN Classic, is devoted to the reruns of classic sporting events. Lately, they been hyping the 30 year old NCAA basketball championship between Indiana State (Larry Bird) and Michigan State (Magic Johnson). Sometimes, however, they throw out the time requirement if a recent match is worthy of seeing again or showing for those that might have missed it and those matches are dubbed, "instant classics".

While ESPN did show the Handball World Championships on their ESPN360 platform they haven't bought the Champions League rights yet. If they did, however, yesterday's match between Hamburg and Flensburg would surely be an instant classic. I won't give the result away, but I will set the stage. Hamburg won the 1st leg in Flensburg 28-25. Flensburg has been having a down year, so surely they have no chance of beating Hamburg at Hamburg in front of 12,000 fans. On top of that, they need to win on aggregate, which means they must either win by 4 goals or just 3 if they can score 29 goals (away goals is the 2nd tiebreaker).

Link to EHFtv video: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2008-09/video/000515 (Note: you can always fast forward if you don't have time for the whole match)

This is also just the first of 3 quarter-final 2nd leg matches this weekend.

Zagreb at Kiel Saturday, 1700 CET (1st leg result was a 28-28 draw)
Ciudad Real at Veszprem Saturday, 1715 CET (Ciudad Real won the 1st leg 29-24)
Chekov at Rhein-Neckar Lowen, Sunday, 1715 CET (Chekov won the 1st leg 33-31)

These matches can be watched live or on demand, usually around 5 hours after the match is completed. The archive is here: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/search/video

Memo to EHF: If you were to add a premium option with better picture quality, I (and others) will immediately open our wallets.