Romanian team CSM Bucharest won the women’s handball Champions League on Sunday, May 8. This is the biggest performance for Romanian women’s handball in over 50 years.

CSM Bucharest, who are newcomers to the EHF Women’s Champions League, pulled one of the biggest surprises in the competition’s history, as they beat Hungarian favorites Gyor in the final match in Budapest.

CSM Bucharest won the final after extra time and penalty shots, 29-26, continuing a series of outstanding results, which started in the competition’s quarter finals with a surprise victory against Russia’s Rostov-Don.

In the final four tournament, in Budapest, CSM beat Vardar Skopje (Macedonia) in the semifinals after a categorical 27-21. Gyor beat defending champions Buducnost (Montenegro), a team led by Romanian star Cristina Neagu. In the group stage, CSM Bucharest had lost five of their six matches against Gyor, Buducnost, and Vardar.

Swedish handball player Isabelle Gullden was decisive for the Romanian team scoring 15 goals. She was also awarded the top scorer trophy for her 108 goals in this Champions League season.

CSM's Croatian goalkeeper Jelena Grubišić won the MVP award for the whole season after a her good performances in the final stages of the competition. Brazilian goalkeeper Mayssa Pessoa was also great as she defended two penalty shots in the final.

CSM Bucharest has 10 foreign players and 10 Romanians in its winning squad. The team has been managed by Dannish manager Kim Rasmussen.

Two other Romanian teams have won the European Champions Cup (which preceded the EHF Champions League): Stiinta Bucharest, in 1961, and Rapid Bucharest, in 1964. The Romanian women's handball national team also had its best performance in the early 60s, when they won the only World Champions title.

In December 2015, the national women's handball team obtained their best performance in recent years: a bronze medal at the World Championship in Denmark. Romania's national team is also coached by a foreigner: Swede Tomas Ryde.

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editor@romania-insider.com