DVSC are back with high hopes

EHF / Béla Müller

07 December 2022, 10:00

DVSC Schaeffler bring plenty of legacy success to the EHF European League Women. The club won the EHF Cup two times, and finished as runners-up twice back in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, after last season’s domestic bronze, they are aiming to get back to the European elite.

Main facts

DVSC reached the group phase of the EHF Cup in 2019/20, but it was cancelled after six rounds due to the Covid-19 pandemic
after a two-year hiatus, the team from Hungary’s second biggest city returned to the international stage as they finished third in the domestic league
left back Gréta Kácsor, a junior world and European champion and twice named the best young handballer in Hungary, joined the squad
the German goalkeeper Ann Cathrin Giegerich had surgery in March for a cruciate ligament injury. She hopes to return to the court in January

Most important question: Are they really back?

In 2019/2020 Debrecen finally reached the group stage of the second-tier European competition after many failed attempts, however the season got cancelled due to the pandemic. They competed in group A alongside Thüringer HC, Kastamonu Belediyesi and DHK Banik Most, and were third when the season ended prematurely, based on their poorer goal difference compared to Kastamonu.

Since then, this is the first time to celebrate a group phase berth. Zoltán Szilágyi, the head coach who took over in 2021, is confident.

“The fact that we finished third in the last Hungarian championship is a serious step forward for our team. The next goal is to achieve a good result in the European League as well,” Szilágyi says.

“We do not know who will be in our group yet, but we definitely want to get to the quarter-finals in spite of the schedule being very busy in January and February, we will play many matches.”

How they rate themselves

The squad has a lot of young and talented players and most of them played their part in the latest successes of Hungary’s underage national teams. They are balanced by experienced veterans such as the team captain Dóra Hornyák. The left back understands the tests ahead and has plenty of knowledge to share with the others as she spent seven years in total at Györi Audi ETO KC and FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, winning the EHF Champions League twice with Györ.

“European cup participation has always been very important in the history of DVSC. Our club won the EHF Cup twice, everyone at the club is proud of these successes. We want to participate in the EHF European League according to our club traditions. We know that difficult matches await us, but we are really looking forward to the challenge,” Hornyák says.