ÖHB Cup:

Handball hammer! West Vienna follows Schwaz into the final

West Vienna's Clemens Möstl(Bild: GEPA pictures)

West Wien has reached the final of the ÖHB Cup! The second-division handball team beat HSG Holding Graz 28:25 (16:14) on Friday evening. The Viennese will now face Handball Tirol in the final. The team from Schwaz had previously defeated defending champions HC Hard 33:31.

Having been eliminated from the Handball-Liga Austria (HLA) as champions last year, West Vienna now has the chance to win the domestic Cup title. The second-division side beat HSG Graz 28:25 (16:14) in the men's Cup Final Four in Schwaz on Friday and could become the first club from the HLA Challenge to lift the Cup trophy on Saturday (4.20 pm). The game will be against the hosts from Schwaz, 33:31 (16:16) semi-final winners against defending champions Hard.

Schwaz against Hard, the western duel between the runners-up and the first team in the HLA basic round, was extremely even. With 22 seconds left on the clock, Hard managed to close the gap to 31:32. After a timeout by Schwaz, Michael Miskovez scored the final goal with one second remaining. West Vienna prevailed a little more clearly, always in front from 12:11 (23'). By reaching the final, the Viennese have already achieved something that no second division club has ever done before.

For Schwaz, this is their second Cup title since 2011, for Vienna their third after 1991 and 1992. "Being able to play the final against the hosts is like Christmas for us," said West Vienna coach Roland Marouschek. The women's cup final will be played on Saturday (2 pm) between Hypo NÖ and UHC Stockerau.