28.04.2008, 12:36
Hypo in the Final

The Austrian champions reach the Finals with a clear home victory over Lada Togliatti.

Hypo in the Final

Hypo were three goals down after the first leg in Russia, but a convincing 36:27 victory against Lada Togliatti at home took the Austrian side to the Final.

The Austrian champions started the game in an impressive fashion: Oh cannoned in the corner with her first shot just after 45 seconds. The Korean star played a big role in the victory.

It was a very fast game with Hypo dominating and extending their lead step by step: from 5:3 in the eighth minute they went 11:3 up in the 11th minute. The team of coach András Németh were in the lead at halftime – 20:12 for Hypo.

In the second half Lada started better and Hypo played the first six minutes with one player down because of suspensions. The Russians came back to 16:20 (34th min), but from that moment on Oh, the Olympic and World Champion Korean player, led Hypo to a fantastic win in front of the 1.800 fans. In the end the 8-time European Champion won by 36:27 and went on to the Final.

Post-match coach comments

Alexey Gumyanov: "Congratulations to Hypo for reaching the final. The Austrians are a great team with a good coach. We had to play absolutely clearly and on high speed. I’m very proud that our team fought until the end for the final."

András Németh: "I’m very proud of that team. It was a deserved victory.

“We have played against Lada in the group phase already and I said back then that these two teams would make it to the Main Round. Many said that I only wanted to be nice to them, but I really believe that the Russians are a good team. I really like that Lada are not playing in the traditional Russian style, but they play a quick tactical game.

“They have made apparent improvement and it was a very tough duel, but I was hoping for our qualification.

TEXT: Eurohandball.com