Champion Viljandi HC beat Dobele team in the Semifinal

April 15, 2023

The final pair are now clear in the Baltic Handball League. Two Estonian clubs – Viljandi HC and Põlva Serviti will meet in the BHL final like last season. The finalists won by one goal in the semi-finals.

Defending BHL champion Viljandi HC met Latvian champion ZRHK TENAX Dobele in the semi-finals. Viljandi HC started better and won the first half 12:9. After the break Viljandi HC increased its lead to 17:10. ZRHK TENAX Dobele caught up with their rivals at the end of the match. However the Latvians could not equalize the result. Viljandi HC won with the result 23:22.

Viljandi HC – ZRHK TENAX Dobele 23:22 (12:9)
Viljandi HC – Koks 7, Ott Varik 5, Mikk Varik 4, Koovit 4, Voika 2, Basarab 1.
ZRHK TENAX Dobele – Arājs 4, Politers 3, Krūmiņš 3, Usāns 3, Miķelsons 3, Kreicbergs 2, Pančenko 2, Kuģis 1, Juzups 1.

Hendrik Koks became the best player of the semi-final match in the Viljandi HC team. Goalkeeper Artūrs Kuģis was nominated as the best player in the ZRHK TENAX Dobele team.

Marko Koks (coach, Viljandi HC):
We played good defense and conceded 22 goals only. However in the second half we attacked very badly, did not realize good moments, made mistakes and played uncertainly. The most important thing is that we won.

Sandris Veršakovs (coach, ZRHK TENAX Dobele):
Pančeko quickly received a red card and it threw our team off track. We had to change the style of play, we changed the defense system. We played well, defended well, but scored few goals. Viljandi’s lead was too big. Although we caught up with our opponents but we did not have enough time to equalize the result. There was also a lack of success.

Champion Viljandi HC and final four hosts Põlva Serviti will meet in the final on Sunday at 15:30. VHC Šviesa and ZRHK TENAX Dobele will play for the third place at 13:00.