Tonight, the final matches of the regular season of the Women’s Handball League will take place. Metz, the leader and defending champion, remains unassailable, but for the rest of the podium, last-minute changes cannot be ruled out. Here’s the explanation (or rather, the calculations…).
Get your calculators ready! Between Nice (2nd with 52 points), Brest (3rd with 52 points), and Issy-les-Moulineaux (4th with 50 points), the suspense is palpable. For the final part of the regular phase, the team from the Côte d’Azur is hosting the team from the Paris region on their court. The result of this match, along with the result of the match between the Breton team and Dijon, will determine the top of the standings. What are the different scenarios?
If OGC wins…
The players led by Marjan Kolev would retain their second place on the podium, regardless of the scores of the other matches of the evening. This scenario would obviously represent the ideal (and least complex) outcome.
If Nice and Issy-les-Moulineaux draw…
The team from Nice would have 53 points and their opponents 51. The Parisians would stabilize in fourth place, and OGC Nice would secure at least third place if Brest wins. However, if the team from Brittany loses to Dijon, Ehsan Abdelmalek and her teammates would remain in second place due to direct encounters.
If OGC loses…
This is where things get tricky! Indeed, the team from the Paris region would have the same number of points as the team from the Côte d’Azur but would still take the advantage thanks to a favorable goal difference. Once again, the final podium will also depend on the performance of the Breton team. If they win against the bottom team, they would reclaim second place, and the team from Nice would fall out of the top 3. In that case, Brest would find itself tied at 53 points with Nice and Issy-les-Moulineaux. Based on the results of matches between these three clubs during the season, the Parisians would be second, the Bretons third, and the team from Nice fourth.
In summary, OGC will finish at best second, or at worst, fourth. The suspense will end in a few hours!
Solène FALAISE
