The 2013/14 Baltic Handball League came to an end two weekends ago in Põlva, where in the decisive match SKA Minsk beat Serviti Põlva 31-26 and successfully defended their title. Three-time winners of the EHF Champions League, SKA did not take this competition lightly and definitely added quality for BHL.
Important for the whole country
“It is an important win for our club and not just for the club,” confirmed the general director of SKA Minsk, Pavel Galkin. “Immediately after the final whistle on Sunday, I got a call from the vice-chairman of Belarus Handball Federation, who admitted how important this achievement is for the whole handball community of our country – so surely this also demonstrates the respect for BHL.”
SKA had finished the regular season in second place behind Serviti and both teams won their respective semi-finals. On Sunday, the Belarussians made a fantastic start to the game, taking 4-0 and 6-1 lead. SKA’s star player Viktar Zaitsau scored six out of his club’s first nine goals. “We knew they are going to start strong, but this level still surprised us a bit,” admitted Serviti head coach Kalmer Musting.
Occasionally Serviti did get back into the game, but SKA’s legendary coach Spartak Mironovitch always had new tactical schemes or substitutions available to change the course of the game. “We have a fantastic coach and our players work extremely hard in trainings. In addition, we had great motivation and winning mentality in the group,” explained Galkin.
Mental strength guided SKA to victory
Winning the first half 17-12, SKA continued to dominate most of the game. But the hosts were not yet beaten and after Ardo Puna’s two beautiful goals the scoreline was 22-20. “At times we played well, got our aggressive defence working and succeeded in attack as well. But we need to play such handball every minute, not just occasionally, in order to beat a strong team like SKA,” said Musting.
Just when Serviti raised the hopes of the home crowd, SKA goalkeeper Ivan Matskevitch made some outstanding saves and Zaitsau and Raman Lukashuk restored the bigger advantage. Title-defender eventually cruised to a 31-26 win. Zaitsau and Aliaksandr Bachko scored 8 goals for the winners, while Puna was Serviti’s best scorer with 7 goals.
“I believe it was our mental strength and coaching brilliance, which guided us to the win,” found the club director Galkin few reasons. “We also have a good mixture of youth and experience, which is always useful. And I think the boys prepared especially well for this match due to the fact we had to face Serviti in their own home.”
Galkin: “BHL is an important competition!”
SKA won the BHL for the second consecutive year, while Serviti moved up a place from last season. Third place went to Cocks Riihimäki, who beat HC Meshkov Brest in a dramatic play-off by 27-26 (12-15). Ardo Puna from Serviti was BHL’s top scorer with 117 goals, leaving Cocks’ Teemu Tamminen trailing by just 4 goals. Mikita Yermashevich from HC Vityaz Minsk – who obviously did not participate in the Final Four – recorded 101 goals.
BHL winner SKA Minsk’s director Pavel Galkin values the BHL very highly. “All of us, myself, our coach and players do so! It’s an important competition despite we had to find extra resources to participate. It gives very good international experience, especially to the younger players. I hope the tournament can take some more steps in development, find new sponsors and become even more attractive!”
TEXT: BALTIC HANDBALL LEAGUE
