Tatabanya, Celje, Ohrid, and Izvidac advance to European Cup semi-finals

RK Celje Pivovarna Laško will meet GRK Ohrid in the semi-finals, while HC Izvidac face MOL Tatabanya KC in late April and early May.

• Celje entered the reverse fixture in Romania with a nine-goal advantage (41:32); ACS HC Buzau 2012 left their hearts on the court, leading by up to six goals at various moments throughout the match; however, their disadvantage proved too big; Celje managed to mount a comeback with a 4:0 run and a couple of 3:0 runs in the second half; the match ended with a 36:36 draw
• Aljuš Anžic scored seven goals for Celje; his teammate Uroš Milićević, as well as Buzau’s Lukasz Blazej Gogola and Nemanja Grbović netted six times
• GRK Ohrid won the first leg against Olympiacos 31:26 in Greece last weekend; the North Macedonian side controlled the second leg for 55 minutes and kept their cool when Olympiacos took the lead in crunch time; Ohrid even turned the match around again to take a 25:24 home win and advance to the semi-finals by 56:50 on aggregate
• Ante Ivanković was top scorer for Ohrid, scoring eight goals, while Kristian Pilipovic added 12 saves (33 per cent); Savvas Savvas scored a team-high five goals for the Greek side with goalkeeper Panagiotis Papantonopoulos saving nine shots (34 per cent)
• A penalty shootout had to decide the duel in Czechia; after intense 60 minutes between HCB Karvina and HC Izvidac, the hosts had erased their five-goal disadvantage from the first leg, winning 34:29; Karvina even led by as many as eight goals during the first half and by seven after 47 minutes, but Izvidac came back twice
• the North Macedonian visitors scraped through in a marathon penalty shootout that ended 11:10 for Izvidac; Diano Ćeško, Izvidac’s top-scorer (9 goals), received a red card inside the last two minutes and could not take part in the deciding moments; Izvidac advance to the semi-finals for the second year in a row

© Dan Moldoveanu

Hungarians handle heat

It was all even going into the second leg between Nilüfer BSK and MOL Tatabanya KC after the sides drew 31:31 in Hungary last weekend. The Turkish hosts had a dream start this Saturday, leading by a match-high five goals after only 11 minutes (9:4). Tatabanya kept calm and slowly but surely found into the match, taking the lead after 23 minutes (15:14) and defending it until half-time (18:20).

The match remained neck-and-neck during the second half. Nilüfer had their last lead of the second half in minute 41 (25:24), but the visitors had a longer breath and the perfect answers in the right moments. Filip Taleski’s goal 68 seconds before the buzzer (33:36) ended all Turkish semi-final hopes. Tatabanya escape with a narrow 37:35 win and beat Nilüfer by 68:66 on aggregate.

Main photo © RK Celje Pivovarna Laško