10.04.2007, 11:40
Slagelse and Viborg Meet Again

Slagelse will play the final of the Danish league against Viborg.

Slagelse and Viborg Meet Again  

Two of this year’s Champions League quarterfinalists, Slagelse DT and Viborg HK, will meet in the Danish championship finals this season just as a year ago when Viborg took the title, as they took the Champions League trophy as well.

This year, Viborg had to leave the Champions League in the quarterfinals, while Slagelse qualified for the semi-finals and will face Győri Audi ETO from Hungary in the two coming weekends. 

While Slagelse only needed two matches against EHF Cup semi-finalist Ikast/Bording EH (34-29 at home and 39-30 away), Viborg played three matches against the other Champions League quarterfinalist, Aalborg DH.

Close semi-finals 

In contrast to the semi-final tie between Slagelse and Ikast, all three matches between Viborg and Aalborg were close encounters. Viborg won the first match at home 32-28 and seemed to be heading for a further win in the second leg in Aalborg.

However, Hungarian international Ibolya Mehlmann managed to secure Aalborg a 33-32 win with an overtime free throw. Due to the rules applied in the Danish play-offs, this was enough to secure a third match in Viborg on Monday.

This time Viborg also seemed to be on their road to victory several times, but Aalborg managed to catch up with them every time. Viborg played without suspended Grit Jurack, but they finally managed to pick up the needed advantage towards the end and won by 29-24.

Tough defending was the key 

"Today we tough in defence and we had the necessary willpower in our attacks. After the match in Aalborg we had to get rid of our negative thoughts, and now we are looking forward to the finals against Slagelse," said Viborg player and Denmark international Rikke Skov after the win. 

The statistics show that Rikke Skov and her team mates really have something to look forward to as Viborg have often managed to beat Slagelse in the recent years.

Last year Viborg eliminated Anja Andersen’s team in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and later they also won the Danish championship finals against Slagelse. On 30 December 2006 Viborg defeated Slagelse in the Danish Cup final as well… 

The finals will be played from Saturday 28 April.

TEXT: Peter Bruun