Belarus have won the traditional handball tournament Yellow Cup in Switzerland’s Winterthur for a second consecutive time. Head coach Yuri Shevtsov’s side lost to hosts Switzerland 25:36 in the opener but then ousted Egypt 29:26 and narrowly defeated Russia 30:29.
       In the last match Belarus dominated the play and deservedly won. A one-goal difference does not reflect the scenario of the match. Six minutes from time Belarus were ahead 30:26 and only in the last minutes the Russians reduced the deficit. Leader of the team and its captain Sergei Rutenko led the way for Belarus with 14 goals. Boris Pukhovsky and Sergei Shilovich scored five times each.
After the Yellow Cup Belarus will feature in another competition in Hungary’s Gyongyos from 3 to 5 January 2014 where they will encounter Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. The competition in Hungary will be the ultimate tournament prior to the 2014 EHF European Men's Handball Championship that will take place from 12 to 26 January in Denmark.
      This will be the third European championship for Belarus. In 1994 in Portugal they were 8th out of 12 teams. In 2008 they finished in 15th out 16 sides.