Apollon Smyrnis and Peristeri are the first semifinalists of the playoffs in the Greek Men’s Championships, while Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni are on an excellent way to joining them.
Six games of the quarterfinals have been played in the last few days. Panionios and Apollon beat Peristeri and PAOK, respectively, twice. Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni opened the playoffs with big wins in the first matches.
2022/23 Greek Championship, playoffs, quarterfinals (best of three)
1st games
Apollon Smyrnis – PAOK 14:6 (4:2, 4:2, 1:0, 5:2)
Apollon Smyrnis: Bogdanovic 4, Solanakis 3, Gardikas 2, Chondrokoukis 2, Mokkas 1, Goniotakis 1.
PAOK: Kechalaras 3, Charalambopoulos 1, Koopman 1, N.Prosinikis 1.
Panionios – Peristeri 7:4 (1:2, 1:1, 2:0, 3:1)
Panionios: Kopelaidis 3, Gounas 1, Spooner 1, Gkiouvetsis 1, Kalatizis 1.
Peristeri: Chysospathis 2, Karuntzos 1, Koukomakis 1.
Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 17:5 (4:2, 6:2, 2:1, 5:0)
Olympiacos: Fountoulis 3, Vamos 3, Papanastasiou 3, Dervisis 2, Genidounias 2, Dimos 2, Buslje 1, Gkillas 1.
Panathinaikos: Sgouridis 2, Tottis 1, Adzic 1, Hatzigoulas 1.
Vouliagmeni – Ethnikos 17:5 (4:2, 4:1, 5:1, 4:1)
Vouliagmeni: Kalogeropoulos 6, Alafragkis 2, Troulos 2, Nikolaidis 1, Kapotsis 1, Farmer 1, Almyras 1, Konstantopoulos 1, Spiliopoulos 1, Sapunakis 1.
Ethnikos: Tesanovic 2, Mathiopoulos 2, Katsagounos 1.
2nd games
Peristeri – Panionios 10:12 (0:3, 4:2, 1:2, 2:0, PSO 3:5)
Peristeri: Karuntzos 3, Chrysospathis 2, Foskolos 1, Kazazis 1, Gerakoudis 1, Koukoumakis 1, Chr. Bitsakos 1.
Panionios: Gounas 4, Gkiouvetsis 2, Kalatzis 2, Kapetanikis 2, Kopelaidis 1, Papakos 1.
PAOK – Apollon Smyrnis 7:12 (0:2, 1:4, 3:2, 3:4)
PAOK: Kechalaris 3, Koopman 2, Karantzas 1, Tsolakoudis 1.
Apollon Smyrnis: Solanakis 6, Bogdanovic 3, Gardikas 2, Goniotakis 1.
Apollon Smyrnis was too strong for PAOK in both games of the quarterfinals. Apollon trashed the Thessaloniki-based side at home – 14:6. The second game was a one-man show. Solanakis netted six goals in a 12:7 victory. Bogdanovic added three.
Panionios had a challenging task in the games against Peristeri. It struggled in the first half of the first match. Peristeri led 3:2 at halftime, but the hosts “woke up” in the third quarter and recorded a 7:4 victory.
The second game in Peristeri’s pool produced a completely different scenario. Panionios got off to an excellent start and earned a 3:0 lead in the first quarter. But, Peristeri managed to come back. The home side caught up with Panionios. Just 17 seconds before the final buzzer, Chrysospathis converted a penalty shot and leveled at 7:7. The match entered a penalty shootout. Panionios was better in a penalty drama – 5:3. The visitors’ goalkeeper Limarakis saved a shot from Prekas in the second round of shots which proved crucial for the outcome.
Olympiacos ran over Panathinaikos (17:5) in the first game. Vouliagmeni “copied” the champion and beat Ethnikos 17:5. The second games in these two pairs will be played next week.
Semifinals: Panionios – Olympiacos/Panathinaikos, Apollon – Vouliagmeni/Ethnikos.
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