Archive image. — © Raymond Lemmens
There were no surprises on the first day of the Belgian play-offs. Bocholt, Visé and Pelt narrowly remained in charge of Eupen, Hubo Handbal and Izegem respectively.
Bocholt and Visé, which won the BENE League and the Belgian Cup, took two important points. But the two favorites trailed for more than forty minutes. In the final quarter, the two clubs were able to control the match. Bocholt defeated Eupen 39-34, Visé remained in charge of Hubo Handbal, 30-27.
Sporting Pelt is clinging on after a hard-fought 30-28 win against Izegem and is one point behind Bocholt and Visé with four games left. Izegem could not hinder Sporting Pelt in the initial phase of the match. The Limburgers have an excellent organization in defense. Antic, Vandenboer and Falke were the finishers and the 8-4 score was completely justified. Pelt then retained control at the back but lost concentration in attack. It missed too many chances and allowed Izegem, which briefly threatened at 8-6, to come into the match. With a score of 15-11 at half time, the game was far from over. Immediately after the break, Izegem eliminated two more goals from that deficit, but the real tying goal did not come. But on the other hand, Pelt, who continued to miss opportunities and made too many technical errors, failed to kill the match.