Sydney Uni finished their campaign at the 2026 IHF Men’s Club World Championship on a high, taking a 27:23 win, their first in two years in the competition, but could not avoid finishing on the 10th place, due to their loss against LA in the first match of the two sides, 17:28.

PLACEMENT MATCHES 9/10
Sydney Uni (AUS) vs Los Angeles Handball Club (USA) 27:23 (13:12)

After the first match between the two sides was clearly won by Los Angeles Handball Club, 28:17, the second one had a totally different story, especially from the get go, with the Australian side properly motivated to clinch a win which would see them not leave emptyhanded for the second edition in a row.

And this is what Sydney Uni exactly did, starting off strong, with a 4:2 lead, as Los Angeles simply did not have the right chemistry and made too many mistakes in the opening stages of the match.

Backed by an excellent performance of Florian Pascal Wangler, who scored nine goals from nine shots, as well as meaningful contributions from Karl Warrener and Baderaldeen Naser, Sydney managed to keep LA at bay throughout the first half, with their largest lead set at three goals, but only a single goal between the two teams at the break, 13:12.

It was a game of cat and mouse between the two sides, with Sydney still leading throughout the second half, until LA really got some good rhythm going. The American side’s top scorer was Andraz Velkavrh, who had seven goals, and he was the fulcrum of LA’s comeback midway in the second part of the match.

A 5:2 run spurred by Velkavrh and Maksim Salikov helped LA back into the match and saw the American side take the lead for the first time, 22:21, after 47 minutes, with the match looking increasingly clear to go their side.

But it was just an illusion, as Sydney closed the game in majestic fashion. The Australian side conceded only one goal in the last 13 minutes, protected their goal even with two players less due to suspensions, and clinched a clear 27:23 win, their maiden in two years at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship.

However, Sydney Uni could not avoid finishing on the last place in the standings, as the doubleheader with LA was won by the American side, with an aggregate score of 51:44, with Los Angeles Handball Club ending up on the ninth position and Sydney ending up tenth.

Player of the Match: Florian Pascal Wangler (Sydney Uni)