Women’s Handball victorious in France

As the plane door opened, the cold French, garlic and baguette ridden air hit us. We knew the challenge, to go to the French engineering university championships and beat them at their own sport, handball.

We brought with us four sides, two men’s and two women’s, all with high expectations. The men were defending champions and the women had a very strong squad. Upon arrival we received typical French hospitality as we were shown to our accommodation. It was minus seven, and we were to stay in tents. The next morning the inside of all the tents were frozen and we were more than a little chilly.

All four of the teams progressed smoothly through the morning’s group stages, posting some impressive results, with both men’s sides topping their groups, and both women’s qualifying for the quarter-finals. Here the men’s run came to an end. The seconds were drawn against last years defeated finalists Central Paris, and the firsts against the eventual champions, Central Lyon. Despite courageous efforts, both were knocked out.

The women however fared much better. The second team faced Central Lille and advanced comfortably 11-8. They were to then play the winners of Imperial 1st against Central Lyon Alumni. It was a truly nail-biting encounter with team captain Rebecca Pfistner providing a commanding performance. The match ended 6 apiece after extra-time, leading to the dreaded penalty shoot-out. Red Elmahdi was heroic in goal, saving 3 of 4 penalties and helping to ensure safe passage to the all Imperial semi-final.

Both Women’s sides were particularly strong this year and there wasn’t much to pick between them. It was a terrific encounter and was desperately close. The second team scored in the dying moments to seal a memorable 10-9 victory and receive a place in the final. The first’s won their third place play-off to ensure Imperial would have two teams on the podium, but the final was left to the next morning to decide the champion.

The girls met Central Lyon in the final. The first half was a tense affair and the game was locked at 6-6 at the interval. However in the second half the women produced a truly dominating performance to win the match 13-10 and so claimed the trophy.

The weekend was a great success for Imperial and capped off a successful year for the club. At least one team has been on the podium at all three different competitions we entered this year and we are looking forward to the next tournament in Lille in April.