PAOK – Olympiacos 18-19: In the final, the red-whites are waiting for AEK or Diomedis

Olympiacos reached the handball premier final, defeating PAOK in Thessaloniki 19-18 and making it 2-0 in the series.

The Red-Whites’ protagonist was Byron Papadopoulos, who scored eight goals while Karabourniotis scored the decisive goal a minute before the final.

The match: The two teams went into the game nervously, just like in the first game. Olympiacos found the first rhythm and continuously took the lead with 1:2 goals.

After 25 minutes, the Red and Whites took a 3-0 lead and led by four goals (6:10) before Tasos Triantafyllidis took a 7:10 lead. With this result the first 30 minutes ended.

At the beginning of the second half, PAOK improved their defense and reduced the goal difference (12:13) with three goals from Dimitris Triantafyllidis.

Grammatiko immediately called a time-out and Olympiacos took the lead again with a 3-0 run by four goals (12:16). PAOK managed to come back with Nicolaidis as the protagonist and reduced to one goal (16-17) in the 53rd minute, setting the game on fire.

Dikephalos didn’t stop there, taking a first 18-17 lead with a goal from Ladakis. Olympiacos responded with goals from Niokas and Karabourniotis a minute before the final.

PAOK had the opportunity to send the game to overtime but failed and Olympiacos qualified for the final.

PAOK – Olympiacos 18-19

The five minutes: 0-1, 3-4, 4-5, 5-7, 6-8, 7-10 (d.), 9-12, 11-13, 12-13, 14-17, 17- 17, 18-19

PAOK (Gousios): Gigof, Dougias, Eleftheriadis 1, Tsamouridis 1, Nikolaidis 2, Papazoglou 3, Apostolou, T. Triantafyllidis 1, Moisilov, Tsanaxidis, Koukmisis 2, Kavousanakis, D. Triantafyllidis 3, Ladakis 4, Tzorginis 1, Giavasidis.

Olympiacos (Grammar): Kotanidis, Niokas 3, Karabourniotis 1, Papavasilis, Koutoulogenis, Kandylas 1, Bayios, Papadopoulos 9, Dombris, Bourze, Passias 1, Montoro 1, Slavoulitsa, Ostrusko 3, Gratzan, Bauer.