An unpleasant story for the Holon handball team. Its games in Bosnia against the Grachenica team as part of the third round of the “European Cup” (the third most important factory on the continent) – have been canceled. The reason for this – Holon has been stuck in Istanbul since the early hours of the morning, because the connecting flight to Bosnia was postponed for at least a day (due to the weather conditions in Bosnia). The problem that has arisen is that according to the guidelines of the authorities in Bosnia – entry into the country is conditional on negative corona tests that are valid for up to 48 hours (Holon conducted the tests in Israel).
In Holon, they considered testing in Istanbul, but this is also not possible because the team also has soldier players (entry to Turkey is only allowed as part of a connection), and the fear that if a verified case is discovered he will have to stay in Turkey in solitary confinement for at least 10 days. Thus, the team is now preparing for a return to Israel, with the European Union updated earlier and announcing that the games themselves will not be postponed to another date. The European Union clarified that Holon will not be prosecuted for non-appearance, and thus the Israeli group will have to give up continuing to perform at the factory.
Meanwhile, the ninth round of the handball Premier League will be held tomorrow (Friday), and will complete another week of three rounds of play. Five games on the episode, details here:
AK Ness Ziona – Urban Rehovot (14:00). Natz comes to the meeting after two dramatic draws, against Bnei Herzliya and against Holon, games in which they came back from a significant lag of 4 and 5 goals in the final minutes. Rehovot already with 7 losses and no points in the place before the last. Bnei Herzliya will host Ashdod opened the current game week with an impressive victory over Kiryat Motzkin, but recorded a second loss this season, on Monday against Hapoel Rishon LeZion (29:25). Ram Turknitz has joined the team and is expected to make his debut. Herzliya is against the list with a victory against Dimona, and is ranked fifth with 10 points, like Ashdod fourth in the table.
At 3:00 PM, there will be 3 games: Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin – Hapoel Rishon LeZion. On Monday. Hapoel Kiryat Ono will host Maccabi Tel Aviv. Ono recorded a dramatic week with a victory over Rehovot on Friday (33:34) from a goal by Tariq Kasumovich in the closing seconds, but also a draw in Be’er Sheva where they suffered in the final seconds. Maccabi Tel Aviv was defeated on Monday against Maccabi Rishon LeZion, and she hopes that the addition of the experienced Serbian midfielder Davor Teskovic will add quality, experience and depth to it.
AS Ramat Hasharon will host MK Beer Sheva. Ramat Hasharon raised its perfect balance to eight victories after marking a ‘V’ against Rehovot and Holon last week. BS took advantage of a loss to Kiryat Ono, and scored its fourth point at the bottom. Maccabi Rishon LeZion is free tomorrow.
By the way, Ramat Hasharon’s team player Gil Pomerantz was found to be verified for Corona (Pomeranian did not take part in this week’s training from Sunday, nor was he included in the squad for Monday’s game). Ramat Hasharon has updated the Ministry of Health and the Handball Association, “They were tested – and everyone received negative answers and will, according to the outline, be able to play tomorrow against Beer Sheva in the ninth round.
In the women, the fourth round started yesterday with a victory of Hapoel Rishon Lezion (perfect balance of 4 victories) over MK Holon 22:29, and will continue tonight with 3 games between MK Petah Tikva and the girls of Herzliya, and at 21:00 Between Maccabi Rishon LeZion and Maccabi Arazim Raj and between Hapoel Kiryat Ono and Ness Ziona.
The European Union will this weekend host the draw for the host countries and the order of play in the World Cup qualifiers up to the age of 19 to 21, in which the youth teams (against Russia, Austria and Italy – in April) and the reserve (against Romania, Austria and Italy in March) will participate. The youth and the reserve will need to finish in the first two places to qualify for the final tournaments to be held in the summer in Greece and Hungary.