Olympiacos continued ruling the Greek men’s water polo.
The Red Whites beat Panathinaikos convincingly 14:4 in the final of the 2023 Greek Cup, played in Patras, and won its 24th trophy in the national Cup and the 6th in a row.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Olympiacos hasn’t won the Greek Cup only three times. Ethnikos triumphed in 2004/05, and Vouliagmeni won the trophies in 2012 and 2017.
2022/23 Greek Men’s Cup, final
Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 4:14 (1:1, 1:5, 1:4, 1:4)
Panathinaikos: Risticevic, Tzelatis, Kandanoleon, Deuterios, Tottis 1, Adzic, Sgouridis 1, Hatzigoulas 1, Dermitzakis, P. Siamas, Albertis 1, X. Siamas, Zervoudakis. Head coach:Mazis.
Olympiacos: Zerdevas, Dimos 1, Grammatikos, Genidounias 3, Fountoulis 2, Gouvis, Dervisis, Buslje 1, Mourikis 3, Kolomvos 1, Filipovic 1, Papanastasiou 1, Damigos, Gkillas, Liantziris 1. Head coach Milanovic.
Olympiacos was a heavy favorite in the final. Head coach Igor Milanovic slightly changed the roster compared to the semifinal match against Vouliagmeni. Filip Filipovic replaced Marton Vamos.
Panathinaikos managed to keep up with the Piraeus-based team only in the first quarter. After eight minutes, it stood 1:1. But, Olympiacos produced a 4:0 run in the second quarter and jumped to 5:1. Panathinaikos reduced the gap to 2:5. Still, Konstantinos Genidounias closed the first half with an action goal for 6:2.
The second half was a one-sided contest. Olympiacos stretched the margin to six already in the 19th minute (8:2). The reigning champion didn’t slow until the end and recorded a 10-goal victory.
Since the start of the season, Olympiacos has played 20 games in domestic competitions and recorded as many wins. As for the Champions League, the Greek champion won five of six matches.
Panathinaikos achieved significant success by reaching the final game. The “Greens” shouldn’t be disappointed despite the big loss.. If Olympiacos wins the “double crown”, 2nd place in the Greek Cup will be Panathinaikos’ ticket for the LEN Euro Cup in the season 2023/24.
Konstantinos Genidounias was voted the MVP of the Final Four. He was also the best scorer of the tournament with seven goals. Emmanouil Zerdevas received an award for the best goalkeeper of the F4 in Patras.
All winners – Olympiacos 24 trophies; Ethnikos 12, Vouliagmeni 4, Glyfada 3, Patras 1, Chios 1.
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