Limoges (AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain won its first title of the season by making a mouthful of Montpellier 34-27 at the Trophy champions handball, played Saturday in Limoges.
Champions of France for the fifth time in a row last season and winners of the League Cup, the Parisians faced their dolphin championship, also holding the title, in a single showdown, instead of a Final Four between the best teams in the championship and cup winners as organized in previous years.
The Parisians win this trophy for the fourth time in their history.
Dane Mikkel Hansen of Paris, voted best player in the world in 2018, has already been very comfortable, scoring 11 goals, 3 more than the star of Montpellier Melvyn Richardson.
The French Paris Nedim Remili (8 goals) and brothers Nikola and Luka Karabatic (3 goals each) also responded.
The goalkeeper of the French team Vincent Gérard, arrived in the capital this summer from Montpellier to replace Thierry Omeyer, also made his mark on the match by being crowned best player. He made 39% of stops, which was 50% before the last 10 minutes, against just 24% for his Swiss counterpart Nikola Portner on the other side of the field.
In the room usually dedicated to basketball players CSP Limoges, the Palais des Sports de Beaublanc, Paris has quickly detached, leading 10-5 after the first quarter of an hour of play.
Overall, the gap remained the same for most of the match, even rising a few times to +8.
The D1 championship resumes on Wednesday. Paris moves to Niort while Montpellier receives Créteil.
© 2019 AFP