The Australian and Oceanian Club Championships were held from May 11 to 14 in Geelong, with Sydney University Handball Club raising the men’s trophy while AS Dumbea won the women’s title.

Sydney Uni were undefeated through their campaign, beating Brisbane-based Wolves HC, Melbourne HC and UTS Handball Club 2 in the group phase before proceeding to the semi-finals. In the semi-final, the five-time IHF Super Globe participants were clearly the dominant side, recording a 26:11 win that coach Tomasz Szklarski says was courtesy of strong defence and a stand-out performance from their goalkeepers.

In the final Sydney faced UTS Handball Club 1, finishing with a 30:26 win, with Sydney Uni leading throughout the match and allowing their opponents no closer than three goals – but it was far from an easy victory.

“That game was probably the worst one in terms of our performance in attack and defence. But we played as a team and supported each other,” says Szklarski.

“Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that UTS showed how strong of an opponent they can be and how we have to be focused through a whole tournament. I take responsibility for this – I think we were too relaxed after winning against St Kilda in the semi-finals on Saturday.

“They say that in big tournaments you have to have one bad game and for us that was the final. Overall, we showed how strong we are when we play as a team. The back players played according to the plan, our wings finished the competition with high efficiency and our pivots did an amazing job creating space for the rest. But what really helped was our defence and support from the bench – that was crucial,” concludes Szklarski.

AS Dumbea from New Caledonia were crowned women’s AOCC champions after beating Melbourne HC W, Canterbury Quakes and Sydney Uni W in the group phase. With no semi-finals in the women’s competition, Dumbea proceeded straight to the final against Melbourne HC, winning a close contest 27:26.

The bronze medal in the men’s tournament went to St Kilda HC, who defeated Wolves HC 32:23, while UTS won the three/four match against Auckland 24:20 to claim third in the women’s competition.

Most Valuable Players:

Men: Caleb Gahan (Wolves HC) – 19 vote points

Women: Cassidy Chambonnier (AS Dumbea) – 20 vote points

Top scorers:

Men: Caleb Gahan and Joan Cornella (both 37 goals)
Women: Cassidy Chambonnier (50 goals, excluding the final)

 

All-star Teams:

Men:

Goalkeeper: MaikelTakken (Sydney)

Left wing: Joan Cornella (Sydney)

Right wing: Vicente Sancho (Sydney)

Left back: Arnaud Dib (UTS)

Centre back: Caleb Gahan (Wolves HC)

Right back: DaanVersleeuwen (Sydney)

Line player: Karl Warrener (UTS)

Women:

Goalkeeper: Manon Vernay (Melbourne)

Left wing: Elaine Koeber (UTS)

Right wing: Jane Kirk (UTS)

Left back: Elsa Perhag (Melbourne)

Centre back: Cassidy Chambonnier (AS Dumbea)

Right back: Olivia Vaitanaki (AS Dumbea)

Line player: Ana Medjed (Melbourne)

 

Photo: Australian Handball Federation