Apollon grabbed the last available berth for the Conference Cup Final Four.
In the third round in Group B of the Quarter Final Stage, Apollon defeated Mataro 15:10 and secured 2nd place in the group, behind De Akker, which cemented 1st place after two rounds.
The key match on the final competition day in Group A was between Honved and the host team, Panionios. Honved secured a 15:12 victory, claiming the top position ahead of Panionios. Honved is the only team that finished the Quarter Final Stage unbeaten.
The Final Four will take place on May 2 and 3. The host will be confirmed.
The pairs of the semifinals: Honved – Apollon, De Akker – Panionios.
2026 Conference Cup, Quarter Final Stage, Day 3
GROUP A (Athens)
Panionios – Honved 12:15 (2:6, 4:4, 5:5, 1:0)
Panionios: K. Bitsakos 4, A. Bitsakos 2, Takata 2 Trashaj 2, Motsias 2.
Honved:Moskov 5, Vadovics 2, Vekony 2, Kiss 2, Bencz 1, Szepfalvi 1, Imre 1.
Tenerife – Posillipo 13:17 (3:9, 2:0, 4:5, 4:3)
Tenerife: Araya 4, Garcia 2, Andion 2, Mercado 2, Gorria 1, Ramirez 1, Gonzalez 1.
Posillipo: Cuccovillo 4, Mattiello 3, Da.Radovic 2, Porzio 2, N.Nagy 1, Maksimovic 1, Rocchino 1, Valle 1.
Honved got off to an excellent start, putting the Hungarians on the right track. The visitors led 6:2 after the first quarter. They maintained a four-goal advantage until the end of the second period, where the score was 10:6. In the first three minutes of the second half, Honved dashed the hosts’ hopes by scoring three goals in a row and extending its lead to 13:6, leaving Panionios with no way to recover. Despite Honved only scoring two goals in the last 13 minutes of the game, there was no way back for Panionios.
Posillipo beat Tenerife thanks to a 9:3 first quarter and finished in 3rd place.
Standings: 1. Honved 9, 2. Panionios 6, 3. Posillipo 3, 4. Tenerife 0.
GROUP B (Athens)
Apollon – Mataro 15:10 (5:3, 2:2, 6:4, 2:1)
Apollon Smyrnis:Bogdanovic 6, Daube 6, Alamanos 1, Gardikas 1, Solanakis 1.
Mataro: Gil 3, Aguirre 2, Flaque 1, Veich 1, Marti 1, Rodriguez 1, Prada 1.
Mornar – De Akker 20:13 (5:5, 5:3, 5:3, 5:2)
Mornar: Dragas 4, R.Akrap 3, Stojanac 3, Penava 3, Omrcen 2, Bezer 2, Hrvatic 1, Buselic 1, D.Akrap 1.
De Akker: Erdelyi 4, McFarland 3, Painter 3, Bragantini 1 Milakovich 1, Di Murro 1.
Apollon, led by Nikola Bogdanovic and Hannes Daube, set the pace in the early stages of their crucial game against Mataro. The Greeks jumped out to a 3:0 lead within the first 186 seconds of play. At halftime, the rivals were separated by two goals, 7:5.
In the second half, Mataro scored first, reducing the gap to 6:7. However, the hosts quickly responded with two goals, extending their lead to 9:6. From that point on, the margin between the teams never fell below two goals.
In another match, Mornar claimed a consolation victory over De Akker, which secured 1st place in this group on Saturday.
Standings: 1. De Akker 6, 2. Apollon 6, 3. Mataro 3, 4. Mornar 3.
More articles about the Conference Cup
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