Mixed fortunes for the French

Two French sides started the group phase of the EHF European League Women away from home, but only Paris 92 earned a victory, narrowly defeating Vaci NKSE 34:33.

Fleury Loiret Handball fought hard in Romania against H.C.Dunarea Braila, but ultimately lost 29:27, while Astrakhanochka enjoyed the biggest win of the day, 29:22 at THC.

GROUP A
Vaci NKSE (HUN) vs Paris 92 (FRA) 33:34 (15:16)

• Hungarian line player Fanny Helembai was unstoppable for Vaci in the first 16 minutes, scoring five times, equalling her goal tally of the entire last season
• Paris’ left wing Alice Mazens and centre back Nadia Offendal replied with their own four-goal bursts to help the French side take a 14:11 lead after 23 minutes
• the 26-year old Offendal had her best-ever European game in six seasons, putting 11 goals past the Hungarian side 
• Vaci were always close in the second half, but they could never tie Paris, who secured their first win of the season, 34:33
• the two sides provided the largest number of scored goals combined in round 1 of the EHF European League group phase, 67, five more than Baia Mare and Storhamar
• Vaci travel next week to face Zvezda Zvenigorod, while Paris look to make it two out of two when they host Danish powerhouse Herning-Ikast

GROUP C
Thüringer HC (GER) vs Astrakhanochka (RUS) 22:29 (10:12)

• centre back Karina Sabirova led the way for the Russian team, scoring four goals in the first half, as Astrakhanochka boasted a 12:10 lead at the break
• a 6:2 run early in the second half was the backbone of Astrakhanochka’s win, as Sabirova and left wing Kristina Tarasova combined for three goals
• Thüringer attempted to mount a comeback, preventing their opponents to score between the 35th and 43rd minutes, going on a 4:0 run to cut the gap to only two goals at 20:18, but ultimately they failed to secure a point
• Astrakhanochka won their first ever away game against Thüringer in three attempts
• the Russian side will travel to Storhamar in the next round, while Thüringer have a week off, as both of their games against Baia Mare will be played in Romania on 6 and 7 February

GROUP D
H.C. Dunarea Braila (ROU) vs Fleury Loiret Handball (FRA) 29:27 (15:13)

• only 10 minutes into the game, the home team led by four as the 35-year-old right back Marina Dmitrovic was unstoppable and netted three early goals
• the hosts increased the difference to five before Fleury’s coach Christophe Cassan called a timeout, and his team reduced the gap to one goal thanks to sharper attacks and tougher defence
• Braila’s Belarusian left back Maria Kanaval started the second half on fire and with her lead, Braila restore the five-goal difference.
• Fleury’s Oriane Ondono finished the match as the best scorer with eight goals
• in the next round he Rumanian club will play at Kuban, while the French side will face Siófok KC at home.