The second round of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Handball Championship was marked by Leotar’s impressive home win over one of the league’s top contenders, Konjuh, with a score of 24:23. The standout player of the match was Ognjen Kalamanda, who scored an extraordinary 13 goals, leading his team to victory.
The former Borac and Izviđač player shone in Leotar’s jersey, scoring more than half of his team’s goals. However, Kalamanda insists the success belongs to the entire squad:
“I don’t want to talk about my individual performance because we played an excellent team game. Every player gave their maximum and contributed to this victory, which was very important to us after the loss in the first round. We came out strong, aggressive, and fought for the full 60 minutes. This was a team win — I just happened to stand out this time. The most important thing is that we are improving on the court, and next time someone else will shine. We wanted to prove that the defeat in Derventa was just a bad day and to show that we’re a team no one will find easy to beat,” Kalamanda said.
Leotar now faces a demanding schedule, with three tough matches ahead. The team first travels to Ljubuški to face the reigning champions Izviđač, followed by two games in the EHF European Cup, where their opponent will be Buzău from Romania. To reduce expenses, both matches will be played in Romania.
“There’s no need to talk much about Izviđač — they’re the best team in BiH. We’ll go there to fight and try to get a good result. After that, we face Buzău, a team that recently beat Dinamo Bucharest, one of Europe’s strongest sides. They’re favorites not just against us but for winning the entire EHF Cup. These matches in Romania will be valuable for our young players — a great learning experience. Starting with myself, but especially for the younger guys, it will mean a lot,” Kalamanda added.
Local Derby Coming Up
The third round brings a local derby between Derventa and Sloga, where the home team will try to stop Sloga’s winning streak.
Round 3 fixtures:
- Goražde – Gračanica (18:00)
- Bosna Visoko – Borac (18:00)
- Derventa – Sloga (18:30)
- Izviđač – Leotar (19:00)
- Maglaj – Vogošća (postponed)
- Zrinjski – Sloboda (played last night)
Source: Glas Srpske
