The Dijon women defeated Esztergom in their home venue to advance to the final of the Final 4. They will face Thüringer HC this Sunday.
Jeanne d’Arc Dijon Handball qualified for the final of the European women’s league after their Saturday victory at home against Hungarian team Esztergom (33-30), who were leading by three goals with 10 minutes to go.
Still with the support of their fans in this Final Four that they are hosting, the team from Burgundy will try Sunday (6:00 PM) to win their first title, across all competitions, against the German team Thüringer HC, who defeated them in the semifinals last year (before winning the trophy).
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They fought hard to reach their first European final since Cercle Dijon Bourgogne (runner-up in the C3 in 1994 and the C4 in 2005) joined JDA basketball team in 2018.
After a solid first half (15-13 at halftime), they completely collapsed in both attack and defense, falling behind by four goals with a little over 15 minutes left (18-22, 43rd minute).
Trailing by three goals with 10 minutes remaining (24-27), they bounced back, first by regaining defensive solidity, then in attack, where they received two temporary exclusions in the final five minutes.
Following the first, left winger Nina Dury of the Blue team equalized on a penalty (27-27, 54th minute). A continued series (28-27, 55th minute) after the first save by a Dijon goalkeeper in the second half, by German player Ann-Catherin Giegerich (3/8) replacing Manuella Dos Reis, who didn’t make any saves after the 20th minute (8/33).
Finally, Slovakian right back Adriana Holejova (10/16), the standout player for Dijon, sealed the qualification one minute before the end.
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