The SEHA Final 4 2022 in Zadar is history now - and the winners were Telekom Veszprem again, after a great comeback in the final, turning a 13:19 halftime deficit into a 32:30 victory against PPD Zagreb.

Like in the previous two editions at Zadar, Veszprem won all matches in Kresimir Cosic hall - and like in 2021, Zagreb closely lost the final against the Hungarian powerhouse. In total, it was Zagreb’s fourth defeat in a final, only in 2013, they managed to raise the trophy.

For the fifth time in the history of the competition, a Veszprem player was awarded MVP of the SEHA Final 4, this time Rasmus Lauge Schmidt, who scored the winning strikes for Veszprem. Third-ranked were debutants HC Eurofarm Pelister after beating HC Nexe in the bronze medal match.
Veszprem’s Andreas Nilsson and Gasper Marguc have won the trophy five times with the Hungarian record champions (2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022) – and are equal now with Vardar captain Stojanche Stoilov, who has also five SEHA Final 4 trophies on his tally. Veszprem’s coach Momir Ilic won the trophy for the fourth time - after in 2015 and 2016 as a player now for the second time after 2021 as a coach.

Telekom Veszprem did not only catch up to record winners Vardar 1961 with their fifth trophy but also became the second team after Vardar (2017-2019) to win the hat-trick at the SEHA Final 4. Besides, their 41:27 in the semi-final against HC Eurofarm Pelister was the biggest victory in the history of the event in terms of the gap and the number of goals by a single team.

The best scorer of the SEHA Final 4 was Zagreb’s wing Ivan Cupic, who scored an overall 15 goals (eight in the semi-final against Nexe and seven in the final against Veszprem). Runners-up is Omar Yahia (13 goals) ahead of his new teammate Mikita Vailupau and Oussama Hosni (Pelister), who each scored twelve goals.

One major decision was taken on the fringes of the SEHA Final 4, as Bozidar Djurkovic was elected new president of the SEHA - Gazprom League, succeeding Mihajlo Mihajlovski who now is Honorary President of the League.

Like the EHF top representatives Michael Wiederer (president), Predrag Boskovic (vice-president), and Martin Hausleitner (secretary general), who were guests of the event, Sinisa Ostoic, Managing Director of the SEHA – Gazprom League, praised the eleventh edition of the SEHA Final 4: “The final was a real thriller. The sportive and organizational level of the event was truly high and showed the improvement of the SEHA Final 4, especially after the two previous years where we experienced the organization of such an event during the Covid-19 pandemic. We were thrilled with the event, and I also want to thank the staff and volunteers at the Kresimir Cosic hall, as well as emphasize the great support of the local organizers. The feedback from the clubs was extremely positive, so we are looking forward to the upcoming season and the next SEHA Final 4 .”

Photo credit: kolektiffimages