The Champions League clubs Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni passed their first hurdles in the playoffs of the Greek League with ease.
Olympiacos beat Ethnikos in both quarterfinals games convincingly, while Vouliagmeni trashed Panathinaikos twice.
The best Greek clubs joined Apollon and Panionios, which qualified for the semifinals last weekend.
2022/23 Greek League, playoffs, quarterfinals (best of 3)
2nd games
Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 7:14 (0:3, 1:2, 1:4, 5:5) – score in the series 0:2
Panathinaikos: X.Siamas 2, Zervoudakis 2, Tottis 1, Hatzigoulas 1, Alvertis 1.
Olympiacos: Vamos 4, Fountoulis 4, Papanastasiou 2, Dimos 1, Kolomvos 1, Liantziris 1.
Ethnikos – Vouliagmeni 6:21 (1:5, 2:7, 1:5, 2:4) – score in the series 0:2
Ethnikos: Tesanovic 2, Mathiopoulos 2, Ladas 1,Theodosis – Papaloukas 1.
Vouliagmeni: Nikolaidis 5, Kalogeropoulos 3, Almyras 3, Troulos 3, Kourovanis 2, Alafragkis 2, Chalyvopoulos 1, Kastrinakis 1, Kapotsis 1,
Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni defeated their rivals in the first quarterfinal matches with the same score – 17:5.
Vouliagmeni recorded a more convincing win in the second game. Olympiacos had no trouble beating Panathinaikos in the „Green’s“ pool.
Vouliagmeni stormed to a 5:0 lead in the first five minutes and ended the first half with a 9–goal advantage (12:3). The team coached by Vladimir Vujasinovic didn’t slow in the second half and played at full speed until the end. Centre-forward Dimitrios Nikolaidis netted five goals in a 21:5 victory.
Olympiacos opened the match against Panathinaikos with a 3:0 lead and showed that it wanted to finish the quarterfinal series after two games, and they didn’t let the home team surprise. Panathinaikos didn’t give in and tightened its defense. Siamas made it 1:3 in the 12th minute. Olympiacos struggled in the attack during this quarter. Still, the visitors earned a 4-goal lead with two goals in the last 140 seconds of the first half – 5:1. Olympiacos dominated the third quarter to enter the final period with a 9:2 advantage. Early in the fourth, they went to 11:2. Panathinaikos didn’t surrender and reduced the gap to seven in the remaining time. Marton Vamos and Ioannis Fountoulis were the best scorers with four goals each.
I Pairs of the semifinals: Olympiacos – Panionios, Vouliagmeni – Apollon Smyrnis.
Relegation playoffs (best of 3)
1st games
Palaio Faliro – Ilysiakos 5:7 (2:1, 1:2, 2:0, 0:4)
Palaio Faliro: Tot 2, Kocheilas 1, Koukonas 1, Kalis 1.
Ilysiakos: Tsistrakis 3, Arai 2, Lembesis 1, Araki 1,
Chania – Nireas Chalandriou 15:6 (2:0, 3:2, 5:2, 5:2)
Chania: Spathis 4, Apostolakis 3, Da Silva 2, Agirogousis 2, Soleimanipak 1, Pappas 1, Chatzikyriakakis 1, Pappas 1.
Nireas Chalandriou: Mavrotas 3, Papadimitrou 2, Chrystoforidis 1.
2nd game
Ilysiakos – Palaio Faliro 6:7 (1:2, 1:0, 1:2, 1:0, PSO 2:3) – score in the series 1:1
Ilysiakos:Kranias 1, Bobos 1, Lembesis 1, P. Dimos 1, Tsistrakis 1, Arai 1.
Palaio Faliro: Kalis 2, Kocheilas 2, Kourliaftis 1, Tot 1, Koukounas 1.
The third match will decide the winner in the duels between Palaio Faliro and Ilysiakos. Both teams recorded away wins at the start of the relegation playoffs. Ilysiakos beat Palaio Faliro in the first game, thanks to a 4:0 first quarter. Ilysiakos had “a match ball” on the home field. Still, Palaio Faliro managed to beat the hosts in a low-scoring match. After 32 minutes, the score was 4:4. Palaio Faliro was better in a shootout.
Chania waited for Ricardo Da Silva (Brazil) and Aria Soleimanipak (Canada) to return from the Pan American Championships in Bauru, so the series of games between Chania and Nireas Chalandriou started later. Chania easily beat the rival in the first game.
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