The 18th edition of the Jarun Cup – one of the biggest beach handball tournaments in the world – has thrown-off on the shores of Lake Jarun in Croatia’s capital city, Zagreb.
A traditional curtain-raiser to the European Beach Handball season, the expanded and extended event will take place across five days from 29 April to 3 May, continuing the tradition of including the Croatian National Public Holiday of ‘Labour Day’ – 1 May.
Earlier this year, the Jarun Cup was recognised by the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sport sports for its importance, awarded funds to support its organisation, part of the government’s ongoing effort to strengthen Croatia’s position as a host of high-level sporting events.
In total, 11 different competitions will be played over 381 games at the Jarun Cup 2026 by 102 teams comprising of 1,000+ registered players across six courts.
The competitions are: men’s and women’s senior, men’s and women’s 2008, men’s and women’s 2010, men’s and women’s 2012, veterans, plus the opening stage of the 2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour.
The Jarun Cup is also a milestone marker on the EHF European Beach Handball Tour (ebt) with 842 ebt points available in the men’s and senior women’s competitions, which feature a record-breaking 56 teams in total representing 13 nations (Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Netherlands, Slovakia, Poland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, Great Britain and Norway).
And already, on this opening day, four of those matches have been played – all by Croatian teams.
Opening the 2026 Jarun Cup was a derby clash between BHC Zagreb and AKRP Zagreb, with the legendary Croatian national team player and captain, Ivan Juric scoring 18 points in a 2-0 (22:10, 24:16) for BHC. The women’s competition also featured a city derby as BHC Zagreb took city-wide bragging rights, defeating Chemo-Profili Zagreb 2-0 (16:8, 20:12), Barbara Brdovcak top-scoring on 10 points.
In the other women’s opening day clash, BHC Dubrava defeated Furki Sport 2-0 (19:14, 26:14), while the two teams of men’s side BHC Harena played each other, their first team seeing off team two 2-0 (18:10, 17:14).
Follow and watch the Jarun Cup 2026
Follow and engage with the Jarun Cup via the website, Facebook or Instagram.
All results, live scores and schedules can be found at results.jaruncup.com.
You can watch live action from courts 1, 2, 3 and 4 by visiting here: https://www.youtube.com/@BHCZAGREB/streams
Photo: Kolektiff