During the International Handball Week, handball was celebrated in Podgorica, Montenegro, with the European Universities Handball Championships 2023 taking place in the handball-mad city between 9 and 14 July, with 12 women’s teams and 11 men’s teams vying for the big prize – the two titles awarded in the two competitions.

Teams from nine countries entered the fray in the women’s competition, with two sides from Germany and France and one each from Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary, Portugal, Norway, England and Romania, as the 12 sides were divided into four groups of three teams each.

Four sides – Croatia’s University of Zagreb, Hungary’s University of Sports Science, Germany’s University of Hamburg and Romania’s Ovidius University Constanța – went undefeated in these games, being the top favourites to win the trophy, as the top two sides from each group progressed to the next phase, the quarter-finals.

It was the Romanian side which duly dominated from this moment on, taking a 31:19 against the Sport University of Cologne in the quarter-finals and a 34:20 win over the University of Hamburg to clinch a place in the final, where they met archrivals, the Hungarian University of Sports Science.

It was a hard-contested game, with an 11:11 tie at the break, but the Romanian side finally broke through and secured a 24:20 win to lift the title, with Diana Anamaria Șamanț scoring 13 goals in the match.

Șamanț was also named the MVP of the competition, while University of Zagreb’s Martina Krajpl scored 45 goals to clinch the top goal scorer award, helping her side clinch the bronze medal.

In the men’s competition, 11 teams entered the fray, with two groups of four teams and another group of three seeing some tough battles. Spain, Norway, Montenegro, Romania, France, Germany, England, Portugal, Croatia and the Netherlands were represented, with Germany being the only country with two teams.

Only two sides – Romania’s Ștefan cel Mare University and Spain’s University of Valencia – had a flawless group phase, winning all their games. Still, the Spanish side went out early in the quarter-finals after conceding a 32:33 loss against the University of Zagreb.

However, the Romanian side clinched a 37:31 win over the Norwegian Science University in the quarter-finals, doubling down with a 28:24 win over Portugal’s University of Minho in the semi-finals.

The final was a topsy-turvy affair against the University of Cote d’Azur, but the Romanian side, with plenty of players featuring in the Romanian League and taking the bronze medal in the Romanian Cup, finally secured a 37:36 win after Albert Vizitiu scored 10 goals and Daniel Stanciuc adding seven goals.