Sport Handball Country Russia Date founded 1993 | No. of teams 9 Number of teams 9 | |
Most recent
champion(s) Dynamo Volgograd
(12th title) Official website www.rushandball.ru (Russian) Teams Rostov‑Don, HC Astrakhanochka, Handball Club Lada Togliatti, Dinamo Volgograd, Zvezda Zvenigorod | ||
The Russian Women's Handball Superleague is the premier women's handball competition in Russia. Dynamo Volgograd, formerly known as Rotor and Akva, is the championship's most successful club as of 2014 with 12 titles. On the other hand, Lada Togliatti holds the record for consecutive wins, with five titles in a row. Istochnik Rostov, Rostov-Don (formerly Rostselmash) and Zvezda Zvenigorod have also won the competition.
Currently ten clubs take part in the competition, with the top eight playing the championship play-offs and the two bottom ones defending its spot in a promotion. The 2012 edition is being contested by AGU-Adyif Maykop, Astrakhanochka, Dynamo Volgograd, Kuban Krasnodar, Lada Togliatti, Luch Moscow, Rostov-Don, Universitet Izhevsk and Zvezda Zvenigorod. Kirovchanka Saint Petersburg retired from the competition, leaving it one team short.
The Russian Championship's leading teams have been successful in EHF's competitions. Zvezda Zvenigorod won the Champions League and the EHF Cup, while Dynamo Volgograd, Istochnik Rostov and Lada Togliatti have won either the EHF Cup or the Cup Winners' Cup. Kuban Krasnodar, Luch Moscow (f. Trud) and Rostselmash also won international competitions back in the Soviet era. Currently both the champion and the runner-up take part in the Champions League.