The 2019–20 SEHA League season was the ninth season of the SEHA (South East Handball Association) League and sixth under the sponsorship of the Russian oil and gas company Gazprom. Twelve teams from nine countries (Belarus, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia and China were participating in this year's competition.[1] On 13 August the Executive Committee of the SEHA – Gazprom League has made a decision that because of the crucial disagreements over conditions regarding the participation in the 2019/20 season, Tatabánya will not participate in the SEHA – Gazprom League this season.[2]

2019–20 SEHA League season
LeagueSEHA League
SportHandball
Duration3 September 2019–6 September 2020
Number of games80
Number of teams12
 Belarus (1 team)
 China (1 team)
 Croatia (2 teams)
 Hungary (1 team)
 North Macedonia (2 teams)
 Russia (1 team)
 Serbia (2 teams)
 Ukraine (1 team)
 Slovakia (1 team)
Regular season
Top scorerBelarus Mikita Vailupau
(111 goals)
Final Four
Finals championsHungary Telekom Veszprém
  Runners-upNorth Macedonia Vardar 1961
Finals MVPSpain Rodrigo Corrales
SEHA League seasons

Vardar 1961 were defending champions.

Final four tournament was held at Krešimir Ćosić Hall in Zadar, Croatia, on 4 and September 2020. Telekom Veszprém defeated Vardar 1961 30–29 in the final to win their third title.

Competition format edit

Twelve teams, divided into two groups participated in the competition. Groups A and B were played with six teams each, in a round robin, home and away format. The top two teams in each group qualified directly for the quarter-finals, while the teams that finish the Group Phase in positions 3–6 played in the Play off phase.[3]

Play off Phase

8 teams played home and away in the Play off phase, with the teams that finish the Group Phase in positions 3–6.

Quarter-finals

The four winners of the matches in the Play off phase, joined by the top two of Groups A and B, played home and away for the right to contest the SEHA Final 4.

SEHA Final 4

The culmination of the season, the SEHA Final 4, continues in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title over one weekend. The host and schedule for this year's Final Four tournament was announced on 25 February 2020.

Team information edit

The SEHA – Gazprom League Executive Committee made decision that 12 participants will play in two groups in the upcoming season. Telekom Veszprem, Motor Zaporizhzhia, Eurofarm Pelister, Metaloplastika Sabac, HC Spartak Moscow and Beijing Sport University are the new clubs that will join the 9th SEHA – Gazprom League season.[4][5]

Venues and locations edit

Country Team City Venue (Capacity)
  Belarus Meshkov Brest Brest Universal Sports Complex Victoria (3,740)
  China Beijing Sport University Beijing1 Dom sportova 2, Zagreb (3,100)[6]
  Croatia PPD Zagreb Zagreb Dom sportova 2 (3,100)
Nexe Našice Sportska dvorana kralja Tomislava (2,500)
  Hungary Telekom Veszprém Veszprém Veszprém Aréna (5,096)
  Macedonia Vardar 1961 Skopje Jane Sandanski Arena (6,500)
Eurofarm Pelister Bitola Sports Hall Boro Čurlevski (3,700)
  Serbia Metaloplastika Šabac Zorka Hall (3,000)
Vojvodina Novi Sad Sportski centar Slana Bara (2,000)
  Russia Spartak Moscow Moscow Dynamo Sports Palace (5,000)
  Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia Yunost Sport Hall (3,600)
  Slovakia Tatran Prešov Prešov Tatran Handball Arena (4,870)
Notes
1 Beijing Sport University will play all of their home matches in Zagreb, Croatia.

Personnel and kits edit

Following is the list of clubs competing in 2019–20 SEHA League, with their manager, team captain, kit manufacturer and shirt sponsor.

Team Head coach Team captain Kit manufacturer
Meshkov Brest   Raúl Alonso   Ivan Pesic Joma
PPD Zagreb   Veselin Vujović   Zlatko Horvat Hummel
Nexe   Hrvoje Horvat   Vedran Zrnić Jako
Vardar 1961   Stevče Aluševski   Stojanče Stoilov Hummel
Eurofarm Pelister   Željko Babić   Goce Ojleski Unit Sport
Telekom Veszprém   David Davis   Máté Lékai 2Rule
Vojvodina   Boris Rojević   Vukašin Stojanović NAAI
Tatran Prešov   Slavko Goluža   Radovan Pekár ATAK Sportswear
Metaloplastika   Veselin Vuković   Borivoje Đukić Unit Sport
Motor Zaporizhzhia   Rostislav Lanevich   Zakhar Denysov Hummel
Spartak Moscow   Igor Lyovshin   Dimitry Kovalev Puma
Beijing Sport University   Vlado Šola   Wang Wei Hummel

Coaching changes edit

Round Club Outgoing coach Date of change Incoming coach
3rd PPD Zagreb   Branko Tamše[7] 24 September 2019   Veselin Vujović
5th Vardar 1961   David Pisonero[8] 17 October 2019   Eduard Koksharov
7th Motor Zaporizhzhia   Mykola Stepanets[9] 12 November 2019   Rostislav Lanevich
7th Eurofarm Pelister   Stevče Aluševski[10] 24 November 2019   Božidar Mojsov
10th Vardar 1961   Eduard Koksharov[11] 28 December 2019   Stevče Aluševski
10th Eurofarm Pelister   Božidar Mojsov[12] 8 January 2020   Željko Babić

Group phase edit

In the Group Phase, each team played ten matches within their respective groups. Five matches were played at home, and five matches away. The final position after the ten rounds determined if a club will play in the Play off phase or if they will earn a direct placement to the quarterfinals phase.[13][14]

Group A edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR ZAP PRE VOJ NEX BEJ
1   Vardar 1961 10 8 0 2 319 291 +28 24[a] Quarter finals 44–37 28–26 26–23 27–25 37–23
2   Motor Zaporizhzhia 10 8 0 2 314 274 +40 24[a] 32–31 29–23 37–29 33–31 41–19
3   Tatran Prešov 10 5 0 5 262 242 +20 15[b] Playoffs 22–29 24–25 22–18 24–22 38–25
4   Vojvodina 10 5 0 5 269 265 +4 15[b] 33–35 25–22 23–22 29–23 38–25
5   Nexe 10 4 0 6 299 268 +31 12 42–26 25–28 24–25 32–24 40–26
6   Beijing Sport University 10 0 0 10 235 358 −123 0 28–36 23–30 19–36 21–28 26–35
Source: SEHA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Vardar 1961 75–69 Motor Zaporizhzhia
  2. ^ a b Tatran Prešov 44–41 Vojvodina

Group B edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VES ZAG MES PEL MET SPA
1   Telekom Veszprém 10 8 0 2 306 265 +41 24 Quarter finals 36–28 32–23 35–24 36–29 37–32
2   PPD Zagreb 10 7 0 3 289 259 +30 21 23–26 30–24 24–23 30–25 30–17
3   Meshkov Brest 10 6 0 4 307 279 +28 18 Playoffs 27–28 33–29 31–22 32–21 35–24
4   Eurofarm Pelister 10 4 0 6 279 275 +4 12[a] 26–24 27–28 32–35 32–21 34–29
5   Metaloplastika 10 4 0 6 272 302 −30 12[a] 30–26 25–28 35–33 27–26 27–23
6   Spartak Moscow 10 1 0 9 254 327 −73 3 23–26 23–39 26–34 21–33 36–32
Source: SEHA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Eurofarm Pelister 58–48 Metaloplastika

Playoffs edit

The Play off phase was made up of two matches for each participating team, one match played at home and one match played away. The teams that finished the Group Phase in positions 3–6 played in the Play off phase.

Overview edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Spartak Moscow   45–63   Tatran Prešov 23–31 22–32
Metaloplastika   48–51   Vojvodina 24–25 24–26
Nexe   45–44   Eurofarm Pelister 23–20 22–24
Beijing Sport University   49–87 1   Meshkov Brest 26–46 23–41
Notes
1 Both legs were hosted by Meshkov Brest.

Matches edit

2 February 2020
17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Spartak Moscow   23–31   Tatran Prešov Dynamo Sports Palace, Moscow
Attendance: 250
Referees: Nabokau, Kulik (BLR)
Vinogradov 6 (13–15) Rábek 9
  6×  Report   4× 
8 February 2020
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Tatran Prešov   32–22   Spartak Moscow Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 2,475
Referees: Boričič, Marković (SRB)
Rábek 9 (16–11) Voiniush 5
  6×  Report   4× 

Tatran Prešov won 63–45 on aggregate.


2 February 2020
19:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Metaloplastika   24–25   Vojvodina Zorka Hall, Šabac
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
Milić 8 (14–12) Nikolić 7
  4×  1×  Report   7× 
11 February 2020
17:15 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Vojvodina   26–24   Metaloplastika Sportski centar Slana Bara, Novi Sad
Attendance: 552
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Grozdanić 5 (11–12) Milić 5
  9×  Report   7× 

Vojvodina won 51–48 on aggregate.


1 February 2020
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Nexe   23–20   Eurofarm Pelister Sportska dvorana kralja Tomislava, Našice
Attendance: 2,150
Referees: Horváth, Márton (HUN)
B. Jaman, Kević 4 (10–9) Ostroushko 7
  3×  Report   1× 
12 February 2020
20:15 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Eurofarm Pelister   24–22   Nexe Sports Hall Boro Čurlevski, Bitola
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
Jotić 5 (13–10) Severec 5
  2×  Report   4× 

Nexe won 45–44 on aggregate.


2 March 2020
16:15 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Beijing Sport University   26–46   Meshkov Brest Sportshall Victoria, Brest
Attendance: 215
Referees: Antashev, Musatov (RUS)
Qinglong 6 (14–20) Baranau 8
  5×  Report   4× 
3 March 2020
16:15 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Meshkov Brest   41–23   Beijing Sport University Sportshall Victoria, Brest
Attendance: 165
Referees: Antashev, Musatov (RUS)
Baranau 9 (20–11) Juncheng 5
  1×  Report   4× 

Meshkov Brest won 87–49 on aggregate. won 45–44 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals edit

There will be eight teams competing in the quarter-finals phase. Four teams will have earned a direct placement after the Group Phase, and four additional teams will have earned a quarter-finals spot through the playoff phase.

The SEHA – Gazprom League’s commissioner on Friday 13 March 2020 has made a decision to postpone SEHA - Gazprom League Quarter final 2nd leg matches: Telekom Veszprem – Vojvodina (14 March 2020) and Vardar 1961 - Nexe (15 March 2020), due to the ongoing developments in the spread of COVID-19 across Europe. All further updates will be published accordingly.[15]

Overview edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Nexe   56–56   Vardar 1961 30–31 26-25
Vojvodina   26–41   Telekom Veszprém 26–31 0–10
Meshkov Brest   63–56   Motor Zaporizhzhia 30–28 33–28
Tatran Prešov   37–53   PPD Zagreb 21–25 16–28

Matches edit

8 March 2020
17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Nexe   30–31   Vardar 1961 Sportska dvorana kralja Tomislava, Našice
Attendance: 2,560
Referees: Brunovský, Čanda (SVK)
Pešić 7 (15–15) Dibirov 12
  4×  Report   2× 
29 August 2020
20:15 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Vardar 1961   25–26   Nexe Jane Sandanski Arena, Skopje
Referees: Boričić, Marković (SRB)
Dissinger, Čupić 5 (13–13) Jaganjac 8
  2×  Report   2× 

Vardar 1961 won 56–56 on aggregate on away goals.


8 March 2020
13:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Vojvodina   26–31   Telekom Veszprém Sportski centar Slana Bara, Novi Sad
Attendance: 1,250
Referees: Metalari, Nikolovski (MKD)
Stojković 9 (10–15) Štrlek 7
  5×  Report  6× 
25 August 2020 Telekom Veszprém   10–0 (awarded)   Vojvodina Veszprém Aréna, Veszprém
Report
  • HC Vojvodina has informed the SEHA – Gazprom League Board that due to epidemiological and transport issues which occurred in Serbia caused by the pandemic situation, they were not able to travel to Hungary, for the 2nd leg of the SEHA Quarter finals against Telekom Veszprém.[16] SEHA - Gazprom League’s Commissioner regarding mentioned match, decided the game to be awarded 10–0 in favor of Telekom Veszprém, according to the League’s regulations.

Telekom Veszprém won 41–26 on aggregate.


7 March 2020
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Meshkov Brest   30–28   Motor Zaporizhzhia Sportshall Victoria, Brest
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Pandžić, Mošorinski (SRB)
Shkurinskiy 6 (16–15) Ganchev 6
  1×  Report   2× 
12 March 2020
17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Motor Zaporizhzhia   28–33   Meshkov Brest Yunost Sport Hall, Zaporizhzhia
Attendance: 200
Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
Pukhouski 7 (11–15) Vailupau 8
  5×  Report  3× 

Meshkov Brest won 63–56 on aggregate.


7 March 2020
17:15 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Tatran Prešov   21–25   PPD Zagreb Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 1,439
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Pacheco 9 (11–11) Mandić 6
  4×  1×  Report   6×  1× 
11 March 2020
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
PPD Zagreb   28–16   Tatran Prešov Dom sportova 2, Zagreb
Attendance: 0
Referees: Todorovski, Mitrevski (MKD)
Božović, Horvat 6 (12–9) Pacheco 4
  2×  Report   2× 

PPD Zagreb won 53–37 on aggregate.

Final Four edit

The four winners of the quarter-final matches qualify for the right to contest the SEHA final four. The SEHA - Gazprom League Executive Committee had made the decision for the final four tournament to be held at the Krešimir Ćosić Hall in Zadar, Croatia, on 3 and 5 April 2020.[17] Due to the current situation in the spread of COVID-19 across Europe and further objective reasons, SEHA Executive Committee has made a decision to postpone the Final 4 indefinitely. All further updates will be published accordingly.[18] On 11 August 2020 the SEHA - Gazprom League Executive Committee announced the decision for the final four tournament to be held at the Krešimir Ćosić Hall in Zadar, Croatia, on 4 and 6 September 2020.[19]

Bracket edit

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
4 Sep
 
 
  Vardar 1961 (Pen.)30
 
6 Sep
 
  PPD Zagreb29
 
  Vardar 196127
 
4 Sep
 
  Telekom Veszprém35
 
  Telekom Veszprém28
 
 
  Meshkov Brest24
 
Third place
 
 
6 Sep
 
 
  PPD Zagreb24
 
 
  Meshkov Brest29

Semifinals edit

4 September 2020
20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Vardar 1961   30–29   PPD Zagreb Krešimir Ćosić Hall, Zadar
Attendance: 500
Referees: Boričić, Marković (SRB)
Dibirov, Dissinger 5 (13–16) Mandić 7
  1×  Report   2× 

FT: 26–26 Pen: 4–3


4 September 2020
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Telekom Veszprém   28–24   Meshkov Brest Krešimir Ćosić Hall, Zadar
Attendance: 500
Referees: Jurinović, Mrvica (CRO)
Marguč, Nenadić 6 (12–13) Panić, Shkurinskiy 6
  2×  Report   2× 

Match for third place edit

6 September 2020
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)
PPD Zagreb   24–29   Meshkov Brest Krešimir Ćosić Hall, Zadar
Attendance: 500
Referees: Mitrevski, Todorovski (MKD)
Obradović 5 (12–14) Yurynok 7
  3×  Report   4× 

Final edit

6 September 2020
20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Vardar 1961   27–35   Telekom Veszprém Krešimir Ćosić Hall, Zadar
Attendance: 500
Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
Kalarash 6 (12–15) Nenadić 5
  2×  Report   2× 

Top goalscorers edit

Rank Player Club Goals[20]
1   Mikita Vailupau   Meshkov Brest 111
2   Lovro Jotić   Eurofarm Pelister 68
3   Timur Dibirov   Vardar 1961 66

Awards edit

The all-star team was announced on 6 September 2020.[21]

References edit

  1. ^ "Participants for the 2019/20 season are known". SEHA League. 19 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Decision of Executive Committee regarding HC Grundfos Tatabanya". SEHA League. 13 August 2019.
  3. ^ "SEHA – Gazprom League 2019/2020 Playing system". SEHA League. 17 July 2019.
  4. ^ "SEHA Gazprom League 2019/2020 with 12 teams – The one is coming from China". Planet Handball. 19 July 2019.
  5. ^ "HC Spartak become the first SEHA club from Russia". SEHA League. 13 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Decision of Executive Committee regarding HC Grundfos Tatabanya". SEHA League. 13 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Veselin Vujovic to re-take RK PPD Zagreb". HandballPlanet. 24 September 2019.
  8. ^ "CHANGE IN RK VARDAR – Koksharov first coach, Pisonero assistant!". HandballPlanet. 17 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Changes in Motor Zaporozhye's coaching position". SEHA League. 12 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Stevche Alushovski is no longer Eurofarm Rabotnik's coach". SEHA League. 24 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Вардар доби нов тренер: Алушовски ќе го води европскиот шампион!". Gol.mk. 28 December 2019.
  12. ^ "ОФИЦИЈАЛНО: Бивш хрватски селектор е нов тренер на Еурофарм Пелистер". Gol.mk. 8 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Competition calendar for 9th season confirmed". SEHA League. 1 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Improved competitive balance and new SEHA groups". SEHA League. 15 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Update on SEHA Quarter final 2nd leg matches". SEHA League. 13 March 2020.
  16. ^ "HC Vojvodina will not travel to Veszprem". SEHA League. 22 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Place of the 9th SEHA - Gazprom League Final 4 is known!". SEHA League. 25 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Update on SEHA – Gazprom League Final 4". SEHA League. 17 March 2020.
  19. ^ "SEHA Final 4 from 4th until 6th of September in Zadar!". SEHA League. 11 August 2020.
  20. ^ Goalscorers
  21. ^ "Rodrigo Coralles MVP of the Final 4, Telekom Veszprem with four players in the All-Star Team". SEHA League. 6 September 2020.

External links edit