The women's handball team of Moldova ranked third in the first preliminary group of the Challenge Cup, Info-Prim Neo reports. In the three matches played, the handball squad coached by Serghei Crasnyi defeated Estonia 30-25, drew with Finland 25-25 and were defeated by the Faroe Islands 23-37. Moldova captain Tatiana Alifanov was named the best scorer of the competition with 23 goals scored. Finland became the group winner with 5 points. In the December final, they will play against Israel. Moldova have participated in the Challenge Cup two times, in 2002 and 2004.