Champions League

Tirol volleyballers only have to overcome one more hurdle

The Hypo volleyball players celebrated advancing to the third qualifying round in Zagreb.(Bild: GEPA)

The Hypo volleyball players are on the verge of a comeback in the Champions League. The Tyroleans advanced to the final qualifying round against Zagreb. After the 3:0 home win, the Austrian champions won the return match in Croatia 3:1 on Thursday. Now Hypo just has to overcome the hurdle of Doetinchem.

"A bit of a tough one. But the main thing is that we won in the end," said Tirol's volleyball maestro Hannes Kronthaler with relief on Thursday after his Hypo giants' 3:1 victory in Zagreb.

A week after the lightning win in Innsbruck, the Innsbruck smash stars had a much harder time against ÖVV team boss Radovan Gacic's squad, with the Croatian champions celebrating a 1:1 set draw on their home court. "It was important that we won the third set again. That decided the match," said Kronthaler.

Tyrol's volleyball pride thus managed to advance to the third qualifying round for the Champions League with a 2:0 win against Madlost Zagreb. Now captain Niklas Kronthaler and Co. only have to overcome one more hurdle with Doetinchem (Holland) to be able to play in the premier class again after nine years. The first leg will take place in Innsbruck next week.

Last year, we beat the Dutch champions Apeldoorn in the qualifiers. Why shouldn't we be able to do that again against Doetinchem?

Hypo-Manager Hannes Kronthaler

Hypo manager Kronthaler sees the Dutch duel as a good chance for promotion: "Last year we beat Apeldoorn, the Dutch champions, in the qualifiers. Why shouldn't we be able to do that again against Doetinchem?"

Incidentally, two sets won yesterday would have been enough for Innsbruck to progress. For Kronthaler, however, every win counts in this competition: "Firstly, we get points for the ranking, and secondly, there are also bonuses."

Bonuses are just pocket money
Compared to the millions paid out in soccer, Europe's volleyball association, the CEV, only pays out pocket money. Last year, Hypo received just 19,000 euros for four qualifying victories.