Day three of the Jarun Cup 2025 ended with the four semi-finalists in both the men’s and women’s senior competitions decided after intense battles under the floodlights at Jarun Lake in Zagreb, Croatia.
On one of the busiest days of the EHF European Beach Handball Tour (ebt) calendar, games threw-off at 8am, right through to the last one, which got underway at 9:50pm.
Winners of each preliminary group received a bye directly into the quarter-finals, while those teams finishing second and third in each group moved into the quarter-final play-offs. The bottom three in each group went into the 13-24 placement group stages.
If you are a fan of the Netherlands, you will be in for a treat in the women’s semi-finals as an unprecedented three Dutch teams made it through to the final four: Hiekka Hauskaa, KRAS Volendam and defending champions, Westsite Amsterdam. Hungarian team Multichem Szentendrei NKE make up the quartet.
The reigning champions also made it through to the men’s semi-finals as GRD Leça – Spar from Portugal confirmed their last four spot, alongside Swedish side Goteburg BHC, Denmark’s HEI Beachhandball and the last remaining Croatian side in the tournament, BHC Harena.
Semi-finals and bronze medal matches will be live on the Jarun Cup official stream, with the men’s and women’s finals also live on televions, on Arena Sport 10.
For the finals day schedule and full results so far of the Jarun Cup 2025, including numerous young age category events too, visit https://results.jaruncup.com.
GRD Leca – Spar through to the men’s semi-finals, ready to defend 2024 title, strong Danes through too
“We’re super happy about it, but I have to say, I have huge respect for the young guys from Hiekka Hauskaa because, when I was at their age, I was not that good, and they gave us a tough match,” said HEI Beachhandball player Martin Vilstrup after his side secured a semi-final spot with victory over their Dutch rivals 2-0 (28:20, 21:20).
“I have played the Jarun Cup five times now and been in the final four times, losing three. My goal is to get there again and win it one more time.”
Host nation side BHC Harena saw off country rivals Chemo-Profili Zagreb 2-0 (19:14, 25:24) to become the last remaining Croatian representation in the senior events at the Jarun Cup 2025.
“I know we played well and we are looking towards the next game and preparing the best we can,” said Harena’s Bruno Sudarević, who scored 20 points in the game. “We played well and the defence was good. We stuck to the plan.
“It’s an honour to be the last Croatian team (in contention for a medal). We thought that there would be more Croatian teams, but it is what it is and we are very proud about it. Tomorrow, want to achieve a victory, but we’ll see. Now it will be a party, but a little less (than usual) and tomorrow we will try to do our best.”
The defending champions from Portugal, GRD Leça – Spar, saw off 2024 bronze medallists Aarhus Beach 2-0, but it was anything but easy, as they took a tight 23:22, 22:20 victory. In the other semi-final, Swedish side Goteborg BHC defeated Croatian team BHC Dubrava 2-0 (22:20, 21:20).
Earlier in the day, preliminary group A finished with EFE Tigres Level winning the sole remaining game but they finished fourth and missed out on a potential quarter-final spot. HEI Beachhandball, GRD Leca – Spar and Goteburg finished in the three top positions.
SC Squadra Buda had done just enough in the two remaining games of preliminary group B earlier to secure their passage, winning one to move into third, tied on six points with Nordlichter U18 and Plasroal Balonmano Playa Alcala. It was the Spanish side who did not progress though, with BHC Harena defeating Buda in the final game to take the group title.
The top three teams in group C were already known, with Aarhus Beach finishing with five 2-0 wins in a row to finish top, followed by Beach Handball Tilburg, who beat BHC Harena 3 to secure second and Chemo-Profili Zagreb finishing in third.
Group D was the tightest, with BHC Zagreb missing out on qualification after losing to Gyor in a shoot-out (6:10). This meant that Gyor finished second, pushing Zagreb into fourth after losing the head-to-head record with Hiekka Hauskaa, who also ended on six points, BHC Dubrava won both of their games in the morning to take the group title.
With the top four teams qualifying through to the quarter-finals, those who finished second and third played off to join them. Title-holders GRD Leca – Spar saw off SC Squadra Buda and Goteborg BHC beat Nordlichter U18 both by 2-0, while Hiekka Hauskaa and Chemo-Profili Zagreb both needed shoot-outs for their final eight spots, the Dutch side seeing off Beach Handball Tilburg 5:0 and the host city team defeating Gyor 9:8.
In the 9-12 positional games, SC Squadra Buda beat Nordlicher 2-0 to play for 9/10 place where they will face Tilburg, who beat Gyor 6:4 via shoot-out.
Group 13-16 features BHC Zagreb, White Boys, EFE Tigres Level and Plasroal Balonmano Playa Alcalá, Group 17-20 includes Alba Fehérvár, BHC Langoše, BHC Student and BHC Harena 2, while AKRP Zagreb, BHT Mamba, BHC Harena 3 and Boys in Green will play for the 21-24 places.
Dutch domination in women’s competition as three Netherlands’ sides make semi-finals, including 2024 title-holders
After winning five games in a row and receiving a bye to the quarter-finals, London GD went down to KRAS Volendam 0-2 (14:15, 18:20) inthe last eight. A tight first set also gave way to a second, with the British side having the opportunity to seal a win in regulation time, but the second period saw KRAS win the restart and score the golden goal, despite missing their first effort on target.
“It was a very tough game,” said KRAS Volendam’s Linnet Popping. “The score was close the whole time and there was no place for mistakes. We held on well and didn’t let the other team distract us. Then, we finished as we should have and that’s great.”
Dutch side Hiekka Hauskaa eased past home side BHC Zagreb 2-0 (30:15, 32:20) to ensure no host city side would play for medals. “We were better the whole game,” said Heikka Hauskaa’s Yinthe Schaddenhorst. “We set a goal and achieved it and I am very happy about that. What I would like to emphasise is that we always play with all our heart and we showed that again. Congratulations to the Zagreb team on their fight, but I think we deserved the victory.”
Hungarian team Multichem Szentendrei NKE ensured another shot at gold, defeating OVB Beach Girls 2-0 (10:8, 24:22), while Westsite Amsterdam saw off BHC Dubrava 2-0 (17:14, 18:15) in the final women’s game of the day. “We are happy that we’re in the semi-finals of course,” said Westsite’s Rianne Mol about what her team and the coaching staff said at the end of their victory. “We also discussed a few points of improvement as always and, to be honest, we have played better matches than this one.”
Last year Westsite Amsterdam beat Hiekka Hauskaa 2-1 in the final.
The morning and afternoon session saw the preliminary groups decided. After preliminary group A concluded on Friday, it was all to play for in preliminary groups B, C and D on Saturday and to decide which nine teams made it through to the knock-out stages.
Group B had already seen the Dutch pair of Westsite Amsterdam and KRAS Volendam through to the next round, but Westsite’s win over Red Velvet in one of two group games on Saturday was enough to see them seal a bye direct through to the last eight. Red Velvet easily saw off bottom side BHT Bielsko-Biala Young in their other game to move above Slovakian side Kanonierky into third.
Just one game remained in group C, already won by Hiekka Hauskaa with five wins from five. BHC Dubrava beat Goteburg BHC via shoot-out 6:4 in a winner-takes-all third place play-off to finish behind Copenhagen Beach and take the final qualification spot.
Group D had a packed schedule with six games, London GD won both of their games against Beach Handball Tilburg and BHT Bielsko-Biala 2-0 to finish top of the group with five wins from five, with Sweden defeating OVB Beach Girls via shoot-out 9:8 to take second. Despite that loss, OVB Beach Girls earlier win against BHT Bielsko-Biala secured third place, on six points.
Those results saw the pre-quarter-final play-offs decided. BHC Zagreb opened the round with a 2-0 win over Red Velvet BHC, with KRAS Volendam needing a 6:2 shoot-out win over KS AZS AWF Warszawa to progress. OVB Beach Girls and BHC Dubrava won their games 2-0, against Copenhagen Beach and Sweden, respectively.
KS AZS AWF Warszawa bounced back from their disappointment to see off BHT Bielsko-Biala 2-0 to play for 9/10 place where they will take on Sweden, who beat neighbours Copenhagen Beach 2-0.
Group 13-16 features Plasroal Balonmano Playa Alcala, Beach Handball Tilburg, Kanonierky and Venice Beach Girls, Group 17-20 includes Chemo-Profili Zagreb, BHC Harena, Goteburg BHC and BHT Bielsko-Biala and finishing off the competition are Beach Beaurepaire, Furki Sport, BHT Bielsko-Biala Young and Blue Team in Group 21-24.
The Jarun Cup 2025 also features numerous young age category events too. For updates on their scores, groups and much more, visit https://results.jaruncup.com.
Quarter-final results – senior
Men’s Competition
Aarhus Beach vs GRD Leça – Spar 0-2 (22:23, 20:22)
BHC Dubrava vs Göteborg BHC 0-2 (20:22, 20:21)
HEI Beachhandball vs Hiekka Hauskaa 2-0 (28:20, 21:20)
BHC Harena vs Chemo-Profili Zagreb 2-0 (19:14, 25:24)
Women’s Competition
Hiekka Hauskaa vs BHC Zagreb 2-0 (30:15, 32:20)
London GD vs KRAS Volendam 0-2 (14:15, 18:20)
Multichem Szentendrei NKE vs OVB Beach Girls 2-0 (10:8, 24:22)
Westsite Amsterdam vs BHC Dubrava 2-0 (17:14, 18:15)
Semi-Final schedule – Sunday 4 May
All times local
Men’s Competition
12:00 HEI Beachhandball (Denmark) vs BHC Harena (Croatia)
12:40 GRD Leça – Spar (Portugal) vs Göteborg BHC (Sweden)
Women’s Competition
10:40 Hiekka Hauskaa (Netherlands) vs KRAS Volendam (Netherlands)
11:20 Multichem Szentendrei NKE (Hungary) vs Westsite Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Semi-finals and bronze medal matches will be live on the Jarun Cup official stream https://solidsport.com/jaruncup, with the men’s and women’s finals also live on Arena Sport 10.