It was heartbreak for Portuguese side GRD Leça as their men’s and women’s sides both saw gold slip from their fingers, losing their respective finals to Málaga and Nazaré via shoot-outs as the 11th edition of the EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup concluded on the island of Porto Santo, Portugal.

32 teams (16 men’s and 16 women’s) from 12 nations across the continent took part in the four-day (16 to 19 October) tournament as the European beach handball season concluded for another year.

In the women’s competition, Spanish side Málaga (Fundación Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga) won eight of their nine games, losing just once – against their eventual final opponents GRD Leça (GRD Leça - Love Tiles) in the main round 2-0 (15:6, 12:17).

Their final match-up was very different with host nation side GRD Leça squeezing a 13:12 second set victory to take it to a shoot-out. In the dramatic ending Málaga’s goalkeeper Sonora Solano was crucial, helping her side to a 4:0 win, for an overall 2:1 (22:18, 12:13, 4:0) victory and gold medal.

“I feel so spectacular,” said Solano to eurohandball.com after the victory. “I am so happy for the team because we worked hard for a long time and many years. This is incredible.”

In the semi-finals, Málaga had ended the dreams of ‘The Danish Beachhandball Dream’ side of grabbing their third, successive gold with a 2-0 (13:10, 21:14) win. Hungarian side Red Velvet BHC Aqvital then ensured the Danes – who had made a number of squad changes – would go home empty-handed, inflicting a 2:0 (25:18, 18:10) win in the bronze medal match, Lili Uhrin adding another 30 points to her individual tally for the winning team, making the All-star Team as tournament top-scorer.

GRD Leça’s men’s side were the defending champions in their competition, but they were taken down by compatriots Nazaré BHT in the final.

Nazaré had lost twice on their way to gold, once in the preliminary group stage and once in the main round but that mattered little in the end as they won the shoot-out 7:2, following their second set win (21:20).

GRD Leça had looked well in control early on with a massive 26:14 first set win, but with one of the all-time beach handball legends in Bruno Carlos de Oliveira in your ranks, anything is possible and so GRD Leça found out as the Brazilian magician helped guide his side to their first-ever gold and his own MVP award.

“It's amazing, we've worked so hard to get here. To win in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals all in the shoot-out shows our attitude and that we never give up,” said Nazaré’s Francisco Santos to eurohandball.com.

“The unity in our team is high; we are all very close. Also, a lot of players can play different positions so we are able to switch tactics and not let our opponents get comfortable. Those two things prevailed for us.”

12 Monkeys Köln BHC won bronze, defeating 2024 silver medallists Rødby Beach Boys 2-0 (23:20, 19:16).

And for Oliveira the event was extra-special.

“This title had a completely different flavour for me because the coach who taught me everything about handball led our team,” said the medal-laden Brazilian to ihf.info.

“Professor Aldivan Andrade taught me from my first steps on the sand to my first call-up to the Brazilian national team and to make it even more special, my daughter and wife were here in Portugal this year, following everything closely.

“The Nazaré team has the energy of a championship team, and we were able to make that a reality in a club competition with the highest level I've ever seen. The games demanded maximum commitment from us, both physically and mentally.

“The great difference was the unity that took hold of our group and led us to the best results in the most difficult moments. I thank God for being able to experience this moment, taking home not only the gold medal and the recognition as MVP, but also for allowing me to bring joy to the city of Nazaré and to my beloved Paraíba in Brazil.”

EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup 2025

All-star Teams

Women’s competition

MVP: Sara Pinho – GRD Leça – Love Tiles (POR)
Goalkeeper: Sonora Solano Caballero – Fundación Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga (ESP)
Defender: Linnet Popping – The Danish Beachhandball Dream (DEN)
Top scorer: Lili Uhrin – Red Velvet BHC Aqvital, 159 points (HUN)
Fair play: Red Velvet BHC Aqvital (HUN)

Men's competition
MVP: Bruno Oliveira Carlos – Nazaré BHT (POR)
Goalkeeper: Moritz Ebert – 12Monkeys Köln BHC (GER)
Defender: Thiago De Oliveira Barcello – Nazaré BHT (POR)
Top scorer: Jakob Magne Merrild – Aarhus Beach, 174 points (DEN)
Fair play: London Beach Handball (GBR)

Final Rankings

Men's competition
1 Nazaré BHT (POR)
2 GRD Leça – Spar (POR)
3 12 Monkeys Köln BHC (GER)
4 Rødby Beach Boys (DEN)
5 Ligue Nouvelle Aquitaine Handball (FRA)
6 Aarhus Beach (DEN)
7 Fundación Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga (ESP)
8 Hír-Sat BHC (HUN)
9 London Beach Handball (GBR)
10 Rotterdam Handbal (NED)
11 SPR Purina Kąty Wrocławskie (POL)
12 Hiekka Hauskaa (NED)
13 BHC Dubrava (CRO)
14 VRT Lemar (POR)
15 Green Cobras BHC (HUN)
16 Lund Beachhandball Club (SWE)

Women's competition
1 Fundación Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga (ESP)
2 GRD Leça Love Tiles (POR)
3 Red Velvet BHC Aqvital (HUN)
4 The Danish Beach Handball Dream (DEN)
5 Ligue Nouvelle Aquitaine Handball (FRA)
6 BHC Dubrava (CRO)
7 OVB Beach Girls BHC (HUN)
8 Caipiranhas Bartenbach (GER)
9 BHT Byczki Kowalewo Pomorskie (POL)
10 Copenhagen Beach (DEN)
11 Fortitudo BH (POR)
12 Copaca – Balerina (SUI)
13 Beach Unicorns Hanover (GER)
14 London GD (GBR)
15 Olympia Beach Handball (GBR)
16 MKS Ochota Warszawa (POL)

About the EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup

The EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup is open to all European National Federation Beach Handball club champions.

The host nation is permitted one wild card team per gender, while the reigning champions from the previous edition automatically qualify too. Second-ranked teams from each nation can also be registered as substitute teams and will be allocated a place if spots are available.

The first four editions of the event – 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – took place on the Canary Islands, in Las Palmas, Spain, before Catania, Italy hosted the 2018 and 2019 editions.

After covid saw the 2020 edition cancelled, the event returned to Italy in 2021, on the island of Sicily on Isola delle Femmine, Italy. The 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions have all been held on Porto Santo island, Portugal.

Credit photo: EHF / Kolektiff