Out in the quarter-finals

Triple champ Gmunden is in a shambles

The team got off to an impressive start to the season in October with an 82:77 win over BC Vienna in the Supercup and picked up where it left off in last year's successful season. 210 days later, the basketball triple champions are in shambles after their quarter-final exit.

In the fourth game of the best-of-five quarter-final series, they suffered another defeat in Oberwart on Saturday. The Swans lost 58:61 at 20:51 and so lost the series 1:3. The Traunsee basketball club missed out on the semi-finals for the first time since 2016 (!). In the last five full seasons (2020 was canceled before the play-offs due to coronavirus), they had always reached the final.

Coach's contract expires
A very, very small drop of bitterness on such a bitter evening: The Swans were able to leave the court with their heads held high, especially since they fought back from the end of the season without their injured captain and top scorer Daniel Friedrich and a quick 6:19 deficit. "They fought very, very bravely," said finance boss Harald Stelzer. What happens now? The contract of successful coach Anton Mirolybov is coming to an end and a new main sponsor must be found. Especially as the payments from OCS are still outstanding, which is putting a strain on finances. 

Wels fights for Upper Austrian honor
Wels wants to do better than Gmunden on Sunday, when it also has to fight against an early vacation in Graz. As in Thursday's clear 90:68 victory, they will be looking to tire out Graz, who play with six American players, with an irrepressible fighting spirit. "I'm sure we can do it," said captain Christian von Fintel