Schwaz loses final

Tyrolean heads hang low after big Cup sensation

The disappointment was great for Schwaz.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The disappointment was huge, the Schwaz handball players hung their heads after the 28:29 defeat against Westwien. They wanted to win their second Tyrolean Cup title after 2011 - and suffered a bitter defeat. The Vienna team's victory was a sensation and the first for a second-division team.

Two years after the bitter defeat in the Cup final after extra time against Bregenz, Schwaz were back in a final on Saturday. And the "Final dahoam" against second-division side Westwien, who had withdrawn from the HLA Challenge after winning the 2023 championship due to financial problems, ended even more bitterly for the Tyroleans. Thomas Kandolf scored the acclaimed equalizer for the home side with 20 seconds left on the clock to make it 28:28. However, Westwien had three seconds left after a foul - and used them to score a flyer - 28:29! However, the game clock no longer worked, there was no siren and the ball may have been in the net too late ... but the Cup sensation by the blatant underdog was perfect!

Congratulations to the Viennese
"Congratulations to Westwien," said Schwaz coach Christoph Jauernik: "If you're not in the lead the whole game, you don't deserve it. We missed too many shots and never got into a flow."

The club from Vienna played with ease right from the start and had nothing to lose. While the nervousness of the team from Schwaz was palpable - the result was a 10:15 deficit at the break.

HANDBALL CUP FINAL

MEN

Sparkasse Schwaz HT - Westwien 28:29 (10:15).

Top scorers: Kandolf 10, Peric 6, Medic3; Möstl 7, Dräger 5.

WOMEN

Hypo Niederösterreich - Stockerau 37:22 (20:10). Best scorers: Kovacs 10; Hart 6.

Team manager Ales Pajovic was also amazed: "That surprised me. Schwaz tried too many 1-on-1 actions."
Teacher took over
Kandolf tried to turn things around. Lehrer, who had won the Cup with Krems in 2019, brought Schwaz closer. Petar Medic missed the early equalizer when he threw at the empty goal after winning the ball - but Westwien goalie Uvodic jumped in from the side.

Thomas Kandolf (l.) took responsibility.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The Tyroleans were four goals down with four minutes to go, but they fought back with goals from captain Alex Wanitschek and Filip Peric, and Kandolf even equalized. But in the end it was the "flyer" that decided ...