Men’s handball: Potaissa Turda has qualified in the Challenge Cup final after an incredible comeback

Potaissa Turda is the surprise of the Challenge Cup! The handball players, led by coach Horatiu Gal, came back from the deficit of 8 goals in the first match against Valur Reykjavik (22-30), and have qualified in the final of the competition.

Potaissa, for the second time playing in a European cup, has won the return match 32-23 and will fight for the trophy against Sporting Clube de Portugal in the last act of the Challenge Cup. The final will be played on May 20/21 and May27/28.

Potaissa Turda is the 5th Romanian team, after Steaua, UCM Resita, CSU Suceava and HC Odorhei, to reach the Challenge Cup final, digisport.ro informs.

Potaissa Turda began the season in the third continental competition, after the Champions League and the EHF Cup. Even if they did not enjoy the media coverage of the two champions of Romania in the Champions League, Dinamo in the men’s competition and CSM Bucharest in the women’s competition, Potaissa Turda have succeeded to reach the final. They started in the Challenge Cup of the third round and lost only two games out of eight on their way to the final.

Potaissa Turda played against:

HC Dobrudja (Bulgaria) 32-23 (first match); 43-19 (return match); 75-42 (aggregate);

Handball Esch (Luxemburg) 31-27; 28-29; 59-56;

HB Dudelange (Luxemburg) 32-29; 36-35; 68-64;

Valur (Islanda) 22-30; 32-23; 54-53.

Club president, Flaviu Sâsâeac, was on top of the world after the victory in Turda, offering a series of enthusiastic statements to prosport.ro. “It was a game of a whole community, we are a small town, but we manage to offer something, to help the Romanian handball. Behind this qualification stand a lot of work and soul. The people who saw the game can say that Turda was a volcano, it was a victory for all. Even if the Challenge Cup is the third competition by value, this final means one year of hard work,” Sâsâeac said.