Ferencvaros, OSC Budapest, Vasas, and Honved qualified for the Final Four of the Hungarian Cup, which will be held next weekend. The same four teams played at the F4 last season.
Ferencvaros, Honved, and Vasas cruised to the semifinals. All three teams recorded convincing wins in the 1st leg, played on Friday, so the return matches were a formality. The question of the 4th participant in the F4 was open until the 2nd match. The first encounter between OSC Budapest and Szolnok, played in Budapest, ended in a 9:9 draw. But the 2nd game lacked excitement. OSC recorded an 18:11 victory in Szolnok this evening.
Reigning champion Ferencvaros played against BVSC. The encounters between the Budapest-based teams were the derbies of the quarterfinals. Still, Ferencvaros was the favorite and proved that. The first match produced a „handball result“ – 24:16. Ferencvaros started slowly in its first official game this season (Ferencvaros and OSC were directly qualified for the quarterfinals as the finalists in the last season). BVSC led 4:1 after the first quarter. The hosts opened the second period with four goals for a 5:4 advantage. BVSC leveled at 5:5. Ferencvaros added four goals by the middle break and was 9:7 up at halftime. Ferencvaros scored 15 goals in the next 16 minutes, increasing the margin to eight in a 40-goal match. Dusan Mandic and Edoardo Di Somma debuted for Ferencvaros, scoring three goals each. It was Mandic’s first match since March 25 and Novi Beograd’s loss to Jug in the Regional League semifinals. The best scorer in the winning team was Stylianos Argyropoulos with six goals. David Tartai scored seven for BVSC.
Argyropoulos and Di Somma missed the second match. They were replaced by Daniil Merkulov and Luca Damonte (up to three foreigners are allowed on the roster in Hungary). Mandic jumped into the water and netted five goals to lead Ferencvaros to a 15:9 victory.
Dusan Mandic Photo by FTC Vizilabda/FB
OSC Budapest won silver medals in the Hungarian League and Cup last season, but it wasn’t a heavy favorite against Szolnok, considering it changed its roster significantly. Several excellent players left the club (Manhercz, Levai, Angyal, Burian…). The first game saw a lot of twists and turns; the difference between the teams was never larger than a goal in the first three periods. Early in the fourth, Szolnok earned a 2-goal lead (9:7), but OSC scored the last two goals to save the match in a draw (9:9).
Szolnok started well on the home ground and earned an early 2:1 lead. However, OSC took control quickly. The visitors found their rhythm. They scored seven goals in seven minutes and jumped to 8:2, setting the match’s tone. Szolnok was never close to an equalizer. OSC Budapest secured a ticket for the F4 with a smooth 18:11 win, with four goals from Vince Vigvari.
Vasas scored 44 goals in two games against Kaposvar. It recorded a 21:11 win in Budapest. Today, Vasas didn’t show mercy to its rival in the game in Kaposvar and achieved a more convincing victory – 23:9. Newcomers Strahinja Rasovic and Gergely Burian led Vasas’ attack. Each collected eight goals in the quarterfinals.
Like Vasas, Honved beat its rival by 10 goals in the first leg. It downed Eger 17:7 at home. The second match was balanced. Honved entered the final quarter with a 2-goal lead (10:8). Eger produced a 3:0 run in the first three minutes of the fourth period and went ahead – 11:10. Honved responded with three goals to regain an advantage – 13:11. Eger halved the deficit with the last-gasp goal – 12:13.
2023/24 Hungarian Cup, quarterfinals
First leg
Vasas-Kaposvar 21:11 (5:3,5:2,5:1,6:5)
Vasas: S. Rasovic 5, Batizi 3, Burian 3, Dedovic 2, . D.Dala 2, Konarik 2, Bedo, Lakatos 1, Batori 1, Randjelovic 1.
Kaposvar: J. Berta 3, Dory 3, BFulop 2, Kakstedter 1, Juhasz-Szelei 1, J.Takacs 1.
Ferencvaros – BVSC 24:16 (1:4, 8:3, 7:4, 8:5)
Ferencvaros: Argyropoulos 6, D. Varga 5, Fekete 3, Mandic 3, Di Somma 3, Ad.Nagy 2, Nemet 1, Ven. Vigvari 1.
BVSC: D.Tatrai 7, Gyarfas 4, Csapo 2, Gal 2, Bundschuh 1.
Honved-Eger 17:7 (3:1,3:1,5:3,6:2)
Honved: Zs. Ekler 4, B. Ekler 3, Fejos, B. Nyiri 2, H. Simon 2, Kevi 2, Vadovics 1., Gregor 1.
Eger: Spitz 2, Golya 1, B. Meszáros 1, Radli 1, Biros 1, Rustanov 1
OSC – Szolnok 9:9 (1:2, 5:5, 1:1, 2:1)
OSC Budapest: M. Toth 2, Szalai 2, Harai 1 Salamon 1, Vin. Vigvari 1, Ten Broek 1, Rossi 1
Szolnok: Szeghalmi 3, Ger.Kovacs, Pasztor 1, Agh 1, Schmolcz 1, Peto 1, Vamosi 1.
Second leg
BVSC – Ferencvaros 9:15 (1:3, 3:7, 3:3, 2:2)
BVSC: A. Csacsovszky 3, Csapo 2,D. Tatrai 1, Simon 1, Cs. Mesaros 1, Gyarfas 1.
Ferencvaros: Mandic 5, Ven. Vigvari 4, D. Varga3, E. Molnar E., V.. Varga 1,Ak. Nagy 1.
Kaposvar – Vasas 9:23 (3:7, 3:4, 2:5, 1:7)
Kaposvar: Dory 2, Juhasz-Szelei 2, J.Takacs 1, Berta 1, Baj 1, Kakstedter 1, Aranyi 1,
Vasas: Burian 5, Dala 4, Gabor 3, S.Rasovic 3, Batori 2, Batizi 2, Randjelovic 2, Konarik 1, Lakatos 1.
Eger – Honved 12:13 (2:3, 3:3, 3:4, 4:3)
Eger: Golya 3 Murisic 3, Rustanov 2, Radli 1, Doczi 1, Biros 1. Sudar 1.
Honved: Gregor 3, H.Simon 2, P.Sugar, Ekler 2, Vadovics 1, Kevi 1, Zs. Ekler, Szepfalvi 1.
Szolnok – OSC Budapest 11:18 (2:6, 4:6, 3:3, 2:3)
Szolnok: Ger.Kovacs 3, Petto 3, Zs. Szeghalmi 3, Schmolcz 1, Zs. Vismeg 1.
OSC Budapest: Vin.Vigvari 4, Harai 3, Salamon 2, Baksa 2, Ten Broek 2, Varnai 1,M. Aranyi 1, P.Szalai, Gazst 1, Rossi 1.
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