HC ALKALOID – HC LOVCEN 34-30 (18-15)

Venue: Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid. Referees: Gjorgji Nachevski and Slave Nikolov. Delegate: Aco Nikolovski.

HC Alkaloid: Kizikj (3 saves), Trajkovski (6 saves), Djonov 5, Petrov, M. Mladenovikj 2, Serafimov 6, Karasmanakis 3, Stojanovikj, Mitev 3, Gjorgjiev 1, Velkovski 1, Simonoski 3, Ivanoski, Bingo 4, Petkovski 5, Silva 1

Seven-meter throws: 4/4 Suspensions: 8 min.

HC Lovcen: Vujovic (3 saves), Djurkovic, Stanojevic 5, Perisic 2, Pajovic 6, Lalicic, Radojcic 4, Cirovic, Radovic 2, Borilovic 1, Bozovic, Petricevic, Vukovic, Brnovic 6, Rackovic 4.

Seven-meter throws: 2/2 Suspensions: 8 min.

Having already secured placement in the third Krste Andonovski memorial tournament finals, HC Alkaloid took on Montenegrin champions HC Lovcen on the final day of the group stage.

This first-ever encounter between the two teams ended in a 34:30 (18:15) victory for HC Alkaloid. Both sides, relieved from the pressure of needing points, played a more offensive style, allowing extra time on the court to players who typically see less action.

HC Alkaloid led throughout the match, though Lovcen managed to narrow the gap to a single goal in the second half (19-20, 20-21). However, HC Alkaloid responded with a focused effort, moving ahead with a 4:1 run to establish a 25-21 advantage, controlling the remainder of the game to secure the win.

HC ALKALOID – OLYMPIACOS SFP 28-26 (12-14)

Venue: Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid. Referees: Gjorgji Nachevski and Slave Nikolov

HC ALKALOID: Kizikj (5 saves), Galevski (12 saves), Djonov 4, Petrov, Kosteski 4, Mladenovikj, Serafimov 3, Karasmanakis, Stojkovikj 2, Mitev 1, Gjorgjiev 2, Velkovski 3, Simonoski 4, Ivanoski, Bingo 1, Petkovski 2, Silva 2

Seven-meter throws: 2/2 Suspensions: 2 min.

OLYMPIACOS SFP: Konstantinos (6 saves), Papantonopoulos (5 saves), Tziras, Papavasilis 3, Vida 1, Tzimpoulas, Papazoglou 1, Kandylas, Peric 2, Vujovic, Vejin 2, Liapis 8, Passias 2, Michailidis 6, Savvas 1, Nikolintais

Seven-meter throws: 4/5 Suspensions: 8 min.

HC Alkaloid secured their second victory at the Krste Andonovski memorial tournament, held in Ohrid. They defeated the reigning Greek champions, Olympiacos SFP in the second round.

In a tightly contested first half, Olympiacos took advantage of a series of minor mistakes, building a 14-12 lead after 30 minutes.

In the second half, however, HC Alkaloid stormed back. The squad quickly equalized and, within 10 minutes, took the lead at 20-19. The defense stiffened, with Marko Kizikj making several crucial saves, allowing the lead to extend to 24-21. The opponent made a final push to close the gap, narrowing it to 24-23, but HC Alkaloid responded with more varied attacks and solid defense, pulling ahead to 28-24 with two minutes remaining. Olympiacos managed to reduce the score in the final 120 seconds, but a comeback was out of reach.

The final day of the tournament group stage takes place tomorrow, with HC Alkaloid set to go against HC Lovcen. The Montenegrin champions have suffered two defeats, thereby making HC Alkaloid the favorite in that match. A win or a draw will secure HC Alkaloid’s spot in the tournament finals.

HC Alkaloid will start off the new Macedonian handball season with a match in the Macedonian Super Cup against HC Eurofarm Pelister, as announced by the Macedonian Handball Federation (RFM).

The match for the Super Cup trophy will take place in Gevgelija. The event will be hosted at the 24 April arena on Wednesday, September 4, starting at 19:00h. The Macedonian Super Cup match will also be broadcast live on MRTV.

Our club, which won its first senior competition trophy last year in the Macedonian Cup, will be competing in the Super Cup for the first time, while HC Eurofarm Pelister, the reigning Macedonian champion, has claimed the title twice already, in 2021 and 2022.

HC ALKALOID – HC DINAMO PANCEVO 27:22 (16:9)

Venue: Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid. Referees: Mihajlo Ilievski and Metodija Ilievski. Delegate: Slavcho Ristevski

HC Alkaloid: Galevski (11 saves), Trajkovski (1 save), Djonov 1, Kosteski 6, Mladenovikj 1, Serafimov 5, Karasmanakis, Stojkovic 2, M. Mitev 4, Velkovski, Simonoski, Ivanoski, Bingo 3, Oliveira 2, Petkovski 2, Savrevski

Seven-meter throws: 1/1 Suspensions: 10 min.

HC Dinamo Pancevo: Cirovic (4 goals), Kosanovic (8 goals), Kolundzic 1, Sokritis, Arsic, Bogdanovic 2, Perovic 4, Stamenkovic 3, Stanisavljevic 3, Rancic, Stamatovic, Djurovic, Fejes 3, Tasic, Ilic, Pavlovic 3

Seven-meter throws: 2/3 Suspensions: 16 min.

HC Alkaloid started with a victory against HC Dinamo Pancevo (27:22) in the third Krste Andonovski memorial tournament, taking place over the next four days at the Biljanini Izvori arena in Ohrid.

At the tournament’s opening match, HC Alkaloid met a formidable, driven, and determined opponent, with both teams fighting fiercely.

After a tense start, HC Alkaloid’s defense was extremely strong, especially in the first half, keeping their opponent to just five goals for an extended period. At 6-5, HC Alkaloid went on a decisive 6-0 run, setting the tone for the rest of the match.

The match evened up in the last ten minutes of the first half, after HC Alkaloid had taken a 12–5 lead. The opposing team attempted to close the gap and get back into the game, but HC Alkaloid remained focused on both offense and defense, going into halftime with a 16-9 advantage.

In the second half, HC Dinamo Pancevo came out aggressively from the first minute, attempting to reverse the score, and managed to cut the deficit to four goals (16-20) by the 40th minute.

Shortly after, HC Alkaloid extended their lead to 24-17, and while the advantage was never seriously threatened for the remainder of the match, it required considerable effort from the team to keep it that way.

The outcome of the match was already decided by the 57th minute, when the score was 27-20, ending in a final score of 27-22.

Ivan Galevski stood out with 11 saves, while Nikola Kosteski and Martin Serafimov were the squad’s top scorers netting six and five goals, respectively. This game provided coach Kiril Lazarov with an excellent opportunity to assess a lot of players.

HC Alkaloid will take a rest day at the tournament before facing the Greek champions, Olympiakos, in the second round. They will compete against the top Montenegrin team, HC Lovcen, on August 23 in the third round.

As the central event in the final stage of their preparations, HC Alkaloid has chosen to compete in the summer tournament hosted by CHC Ohrid. The Krste Andonovski memorial tournament will take place for the third time, featuring eight teams—three domestic and five international. The teams are split into two groups of four.

HC Alkaloid will have a brand-new experience with this tournament as they will be taking on Olympiakos, the champions of Greece, and HC Lovcen Cetinje, the champions of Montenegro, on the court for the first time.

We will first face the team of HC Dinamo Pancevo, again. This is a squad we have competed against multiple times in preparations over the past two seasons. This game will provide a fresh opportunity for comparison with previous matches.

The tournament will take place at the Biljanini Izvori arena, from August 20 to 24. After facing Dinamo Pancevo, we will play against Olympiakos, followed by our last group-stage encounter against HC Lovcen.

The tournament will culminate on August 24 with a final including the top teams from each group in line with the placement matches. The teams of CHC Ohrid, HC Vardar 1961, HC Partizan, and HC Celje are in the other group.

HC Alkaloid is re-energizing at the Mavrovo camp, where the team has the peace, focus, and optimum environment needed to perform well and accomplish their objectives. The squad will return to Skopje to oversee the remaining preparations after completing the 10-day schedule of activities in Mavrovo. The players and coach Kiril Lazarov and pleased with the training atmosphere and the progress made during the early days of the summer pre-season.

KIRIL LAZAROV:

“Mavrovo offers us fantastic conditions to get ready for what is ahead! The most important thing is that we have peace here, allowing us to work, analyze, and build a positive atmosphere. This environment helps us come together as a strong community. The players are fully focused, motivated, and disciplined in their work, and I am pleased with how the preparations are going. We have a system in place which we continue to improve, and I feel optimistic about both the preparation phase and the challenges that await us.

As their sparring partner before the European Championship, we’ve already had a friendly match with Macedonia’s cadet national team. There will also be five or six high-quality friendly matches. Although winning is not the main focus, my goal is to provide every player with an opportunity to prove themselves and ensure they are prepared for the demanding and long season ahead. “

IGOR GJORGJIEV:

“We finished the initial phase of our preparations in Skopje, where we spent ten days. Now that we’ve been in Mavrovo for a few days, everything is going smoothly. We’re focusing on playing well, especially with the integration of new players. Francisco, our new international recruit, is also with us, and we are all helping him settle in. We’re working hard on our physical fitness and also focusing on tactical training with coach Lazarov.

The upcoming season looks promising, but we must be well-prepared for our objectives and forthcoming challenges. As a team, we have set our goals, but will take it one match at a time. Our first official game will be the Macedonian Super Cup, and we intend to take on our opponents as prepared as possible.”

MARTIN SERAFIMOV:

“The entire team is working cohesively during preparation, and we have excellent conditions to prepare both physically and tactically for the challenges that lie ahead. I am happy that we were able to keep the core of Alkaloid’s team while also bringing on a few new players. After our preparations in Mavrovo, we will have friendly matches where we’ll aim to give it our all. We need to focus on preparing thoroughly for the Super Cup, however, we will analyze it after completing our preparations. Right now, our focus is solely on getting ready, without thinking about anything else”

IVAN DJONOV:

“Our preparations are going well, with a major emphasis on physical readiness for the upcoming difficult season, which will be intense and require significant effort. We are all giving it our best, since the work we do now will set the foundation for the entire year. New challenges lie ahead, and as players, we’re prepared to tackle them effectively. HC Alkaloid always aims to win, thus the goal remains the same”

MARKO MITEV:

“I missed being active in handball after the break. I expect us to improve on our performance with the new additions this season, repeating and building on last year’s success in the league, the Macedonian Cup, and in Europe. We will also compete in the EHF Cup this year coming into it with the experience we gained in last season’s matches. Since the competition has a different system than the EHF European League, we anticipate it will be quite exciting for us being a young squad looking to get better every year”