THE men’s handball Scottish Cup champions will approach the European Handball Federation (EHF) Challenge Cup with confidence after kicking off their domestic season with a victory.
Livingston Handball Club started their season with a convincing win over EK82 and last season finished second in the league and third in the British play-off.
Last year’s efforts have been rewarded with qualification for the EHF Challenge Cup, a competition they exited last season in the second round after losing narrowly to London Great Dane.
This weekend they will face Finnish Cup champions, Dicken Handball Club, from Helsinki, at the same stage.
Dicken reached the quarter-final stage last year and are come into the weekend ties as favourites.
However, Livingston captain Ross Gannon feels his side can approach the games with confidence: “We play a fast, effective game and no matter who we play, when we are at our best, we know we can give any team a really tough game.
“We’ve started the season well and after a good pre-season during which we also comfortably beat one of England’s top sides – NEM Hawks who were English Cup finalists – in a friendly.
“We are going into these games with focus, determination and confidence. We know what we are capable of, and we are looking forward to this tie”.
Handball continues to see a surge in interest across Scotland at all age levels, and in particular, many young teams are now enjoying the game.
In May, both the Scottish Handball Youth Finals and the Scottish Schools Handball tournament took place with over 350 children from schools and clubs across the country taking part.
The game is now broadcast in over 80 territories and live across 41 TV Channels.
This weekend’s tie between Livingston and Dicken are being played at Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre at The Oriam, Heriot-Watt University, on Saturday, October 5 (17:00 throw-off) and Sunday, October 6 (14:00 throw-off).
Prices are £2 for adults, £1 for those aged 5-16 and free for under-5s.
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