Historic triumphs for Aarhus and Xàbia at Champions Cup 2026

MEN'S COMPETITION

• The men’s title was decided in a spectacular match between the two first-time finalists: 12 Monkeys Köln BHC, who were aiming to secure Germany's first Champions Cup title, and Aarhus Beach, who had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals

• Backed up by Andreas Søndergaard Høgh in goal, Christian Nielsen and Jakob Magne Merrild scored a total of 18 points in the first set, giving Aarhus the advantage after the first ten minutes

• The two finalists were neck and neck in the second set, with the score tied at 18:18 two minutes before the end; once the Monkeys opened up a four-point lead, the Danish side couldn't catch up

• Christian Nielsen, who was voted the tournament's MVP, gave the Danish side the crucial advantage in the second series of the shoot-out with a save, and it was Merrild who scored the winning goal in the final series (22:27, 25:20, 6:9)

• Aarhus Beach became the first Danish men's team to win a title since 2023 (Rødby Beach Boys)

• The newly-crowned champions are coached by the legendary Melanie Fuglsbjerg, who won the Champions Cup in 2023 in her debut year as coach of the women's Danish Beachhandball Dream

• GRD Leça - Spar narrowly beat Nazaré BHT 2:1 (22:14, 20:21, 4:6) in the all-Portuguese bronze medal match, which was also a rematch of the 2025 final; the home team dominated the first set, but after Leça took the match to a shoot-out, they took the lead in the fourth series, thanks to Ricardo Castro's double save

• In an earlier tight semi-final, Milton Estrelinha kept the reigning champions in the first set with a double save with 30 seconds to go, but he couldn't stop Severin Henrich's golden goal; the Cologne-based team were more confident throughout the second set and emerged victorious with a final score of 2:0 (19:18, 23:18)

• Jakob Magne Merrild was the man of the match in the second semi-final between Aarhus Beach and GRD Leça - Spar, who were exchanging the lead during both sets; Merrild scored the golden goal that gave Aarhus the first-set advantage, and he repeated this feat in the shoot-out (16:17, 20:19, 8:9)

• Zalan Szalay is the tournament's top scorer, having netted 178 points and earned a place in the All-Star Team

• Alba Fehérvár, Málaga, Frenchy's and HÍR-SAT played the cross matches 5-8, after being eliminated in the quarter-finals the night before; the final ranking is available here

WOMEN'S COMPETITION

• CBMP Ciudad de Málaga went into the all-Spanish final as favourites with the aim to defend their throne, but Club Handbol Xàbia, the biggest surprise of the tournament, continued to stun their opponents

• When Rosa Benitez Gomez scored with 15 seconds left in the first set to give Xàbia a 19:15 lead, it was clear that they had come prepared to take on the reigning champions and would be a tough nut to crack

• Goalkeeper Paula Quiles Vera was unstoppable in the second set, extending Xàbia’s lead, while Málaga couldn’t find their rhythm and were unable to overturn the result (20:16, 22:10)

• Xàbia became the fifth Spanish team to claim the title at the Champions Cup, following in the footsteps of Deporte y Empresa Clinicas Rincon (2016), C.BM Playa Algeciras (2017), Taberna El Panduro A M Team Almeria (2019) and Fundación Fomento y Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga (2025)

• GRD Leça - Love Tiles and Red Velvet BHC faced each other in the bronze medal match, after having previously met in the 2025 semi-finals at the same location

• The bronze was decided by a golden goal, after Leça equalised with 40 seconds left in the second set, but failed to score in the last attack; Red Velvet took their opportunity and they are leaving Porto Santo in third position for the second year in a row

• The clash of world-class goalkeepers marked the semi-final on court 1 where Málaga's Sonora Solano and Red Velvet's Dalma Matefi were on fire, supporting their teams between the posts; the reigining champions stormed through the first ten minutes and overturned the second set to secure the final (21:12, 18:17)

• Xàbia goalkeeper Paula Quiles Vera also found an inspiration in the second semi-final against GRD Leça - Love Tiles; the excellent debutants' performance was no longer a surprise, as they maintained their lead for the entire match and left the 2025 runners-up well behind, securing a 2:0 (20:12, 22:16) win

• Following their quarter-final defeats, Tempo Donna Mamma, Beach Unicorns Hannover, Next Wave and The Danish Beachhandball Dream went on to play the cross matches 5-8; the full final ranking is available here

Photos: kolektiff