The European Universities Handball Championship – Podgorica 2023 has finally concluded on 14^th July with an exciting Closing Ceremony in Podgorica at Sports and Cultural centre of the University of Montenegro.

Over 350 participants from 19 Universities from 11 countries took part in this year’s edition of the event.

Stefan cel Mare Suceava University was the winner in the men's competition and Ovidius University was the winner in the women's competition.

After a great fight and a great match that was decided after extra time, the University of Stefan cel Mare Suceava defeated the French University of the Cote d'Azur (37:36) in front of more than 600 spectators in the Sports and Cultural Center of the University of Montenegro, while the third place went to the Portuguese University Minho, who in the fight for the bronze medal was better than the University of Zagreb (27:22). 

In the women's competition, Ovidius University won the gold medal match against the Hungarian University of Sports Sciences (24:20). The third place went to the University of Zagreb after a victory against the German University of Hamburg (37:26). 

The president of the Student Sports Association of Montenegro Mr Zoran Medenica, the director of the championship Mr Boris Sekulic and the representative of the European Handball Federation (EHF) Ms Marta Bon, presented medals and trophies to the best teams in both competitions. The best players of the championship are Balazs Botond (University Stefan cel Mare Suceava) and Diana Ana Maria (University Ovidius).

At the closing ceremony of the championship, member of the Executive Board of the European University Sports Association (EUSA) Mr Milan Zvan presented a token of appreciation of EUSA to the NGO "Volunteers 2019" and their representative Ms Ksenija Kovacevic for the great contribution of volunteers to the successful organization of the competition.

President of the Student Sports Association of Montenegro, Mr Zoran Medenica, on behalf of the organizers, presented special plaques to Mr Milan Zvan from EUSA, and EHF representatives Ms Paivi Mitrunen and Ms Marta Bon.

 The EUSA flag was handed over to the host of the next European University Handball Championship, which will be held in the Portuguese city of Covilha in 2025.

The University of Montenegro, which did not perform in its full lineup due to numerous problems with injuries and absences of important players, won ninth place in the men's and 11th in the women's competition. 

The Student Sports Association of Montenegro and the University of Montenegro were the proud hosts of the competition, which was an opportunity to once again prove the organizational capabilities of the national student sports association, which was confirmed by EUSA representatives with the assessment that all aspects were at the highest level, and that high standards met.

FINAL STANDINGS

Men’s Competition

1. Stefan cel Mare Suceava (Romania)

2. University of Cote d'Azur (France)

3. University of Minho (Portugal)

Women’s competition

1. Ovidius University (Romania)

2. Hungarian University of Sports Science (Hungary)

3. University of Zagreb (Croatia)

OTHER AWARDS

MVP Men: Balazs Botond (Stefan cel Mare Suceava)

MVP Women: Diana Ana Maria (University Ovidius)

The best Scorer man: Balazs Botond (Stefan cel Mare Suceava) – 50 goals

The best Scorer women: Martina Krajpl (University of Zagreb) – 45 goals

FAIR PLAY Women: Norway university of science and technology (Norway)

FAIR PLAY Men: Delft University of technology (Netherlands)

More information can be found at handball2023.eusa.eu