Dobele’s “Tenax” team won the Baltic Handball League championship in Pelva on Sunday.
“Tenax” beat Pelva’s “Serviti” represented by Latvian Artūrs Meikšāns in the final with 27:26 (13:13)
In the penultimate minute of regular time, the Pelva team equalized the score, but 27 seconds before the end of the regular time, Kristers Plūme scored the winning goal for the Dobele team, allowing the Latvian team to win the Baltic championship title.
Nikita Panchenko scored six goals for Strap winners, Oskars Arājs scored five goals, and Plume and Māris Veršakovs beat the home goalkeeper four times.
Jurgens Roba stood out in Pelva’s team with six goals.
Before that, a battle for bronze medals was held, in which Klaipeda “Dragūnas” won 29:28 against “Viljandi”.
On Saturday, in the fight for a place in the final, Dobelnieki beat the Estonian team “Viljandi” with 31:23. On the other hand, “Serviti” beat Klaipeda “Dragūnas” with 39:31.
Both Estonian clubs qualified for the final four immediately after the end of the main tournament, taking the first two places, but “Tenax” and “Dragūnas” took third and fifth place, respectively, and fought for a place in the final four in the quarterfinals.
In the first away game, the Dobelniks drew with “Granitas-Karys” from Kaunas (25:25), but beat their opponents at home with 31:22. “Dragūnas”, after winning at home with 35:29, lost to the Estonian team “Mistra” with 24:27, entering the semi-finals.
In the semifinals of the previous season, the Dobelniks lost to the “Viljandi” team with 22:23, but in the game for the bronze medals, Vilnius “Šviesa” won with 27:26, winning their first medals in the Baltic League.
The other Latvian team “ASK Zemessardze”/LSPA remained last in the group of eight teams, and the Baltic League season was over for them.
In the main tournament, each team played two matches against each other, with the two best teams qualifying for the final four tournament, and the seventh and eighth place winners ending the competition. The holders of the 3rd-6th places of the main tournament fought in the quarter-finals, determining two more participants of the final tournament in the sum of two matches.
Last season, Dobelniks won bronze medals, but “ASK Zemessardze”/LSPA did not reach the playoffs.
“Serviti” of Pelva became the champion, beating “Viljandi” in the final with 27:24.
