Waspo Hannover won its 3rd German Cup in a row. It was a surprising finish of the competition that started in October with the first qualification round
Hannover beat Spandau 04 11:9 in the final in Dusseldorf.
Hannover arrived at the Final Four as the reigning champion. Still, Waspo’s victory was a surprise. Spandau 04 was considered the favorite as the Berliners defeated Hannover in the previous three matches this season (the German Super Cup and two games in the league). Besides, Spandau has dominated in all German competitions this season and has played better than Hannover in the Champions League.
But Hannover smashed all prognoses and shined in the most important derby since the start of the season.
2022/23 German Cup, Final Four, Dusseldorf
Semifinals
Spandau 04 – OSC Potsdam 19:7 (5:0, 3:2, 6:3, 5:2)
Spandau 04: Kholod 6, Prioteasa 3, Gbadamassi 2, Shepelev 2, Cuk 1, Tkac 1, Bozic 1, Strelezkij 1, Marziali 1, Restovic 1.
OSC Potsdam: Taubert 2, A. Hofmann 2, Zezelj 2, T.Hofmann 1.
Ludwigsburg – Waspo 98 Hannover 3:25 (1:6, 1:6, 0:8, 1:5)
Luwgisburg 08: John 1, Prieto 1, Blazevic 1.
Waspo 98 Hannover: Schipper 4, Lozina 4, Basic 4, F.Schutze 3, Kubisch 3, Benic 3, Macan 2, Corusic 1, Gansen 1.
Final
Spandau 04 – Waspo 98 Hannover 9:11 (2:2, 3:4, 3:2, 1:3)
Spandau: Baksa, Gbdamassi, Prioteasa, Cuk 2, Tkac, Jungling,Strelezkij, Marziali 3, Chiru, Kholod 3, Restovic, Shepelev 1,Bozic. Trainer: Athanasios Kechagias
Hannover: Gotz, Corusic 1, Schipper 1, Froreich, F. Schutze 1, Radovic,Lozina 2, Macan, Kubisch, Gansen 1, Benic 4, Basic 1, Benke. Coach: Seehafer.
Neither of the favorites had trouble in the semifinals. Spandau and Hannover advanced to the final with convincing wins.
The final game was full of twists and turns. In the first half, two goals never separated the rivals. At halftime, Hannover led 6:5. The best scorer of the game Hrvoje Benic netted the first goal in the second half and one team gained a two-goal lead for the first time – 7:5. Spandau replied with three straight goals and turned the deficit to a lead. Marziali made it 8:7 in the 21sth minute. Shortly before the end of the third quarter, Hannover’s Basic found the net for 8:8. Therefore, the teams were tied before the final quarter of a tense match with many exclusions.
Hannover had an excellent finish. It netted three straight goals in the final period and jumped to an 11:8 lead. Dmitri Kholod woke Spandau’s slim hope by converting a man-up for 9:11 with 82 seconds left on the clock. Still, it was too late. Hannover kept a two-goal advantage and won the eighth trophy in the national Cup and the sixth in the last seven years.
Spandau, which is the absolute record-holder of the German Cup with 31 trophies (the last one in 2020), suffered the first loss in the domestic competitions since the last season’s playoffs.
All winners: Spandau 31 trophies, Waspo Hannover 8, ASC Duisburg 4, Rote Erde Hamm 4, Wurzburg 05 1, Cannstatt 1, Bayer 08 Uerdingen 1, Delphin Wuppertal 1.
3rd-place match
OSC Potsdam –Ludwigsburg 13;4 (1:2, 4:0, 4:1, 4:1)
OSC Potsdam: Korbel 4, Taubert 2, Huppe 1, Arnold 1, Zezelj 1, Dyck 1, Hofmann 1, Burger 1, Ulrich 1.
Luwigsburg: Skiljic 2, Prieto 1, Blazevic 1.
OSC Potsdam finished in 3rd place with a big win over Ludwigsburg.
Spandau clinches German Cup for ladies
Spandau men failed to win the trophy, but the Berlin-based club still didn’t leave Dusseldorf empty-handed. The female team of Spandau won the Cup, beating Bayer 14:9 in the final.
Semifinals
Spandau 04 – SV Blau-Weiss Bochum 13:6 (2:2, 2:1, 6:2, 3:1)
Bayer Uerdingen 08 – Esslingen 17:1 (4:0, 1:0, 8:0, 4:1)
Final
Spandau 04 – Bayer Uerdingen 08 14:9 (2:3, 5:3, 5:2, 2:1)
3rd-place match
Blau-Weiss Bochum – SSV Esslingen 9:11 (1:3, 1:4, 1:2, 6:0, PSO 0:2)
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