For the second time in a row, El Niňo Praha has made it to the final of the European Cup. Last time, the Spaniards lost to HB Ostrov, this year they will face Real Club Cajasur Priego TM from Vysehrad. The first match will be played in the south of Europe on May 15th at 8 pm, the return match is scheduled a week later on May 22nd at 6 pm at Kotlářka.
The Spanish club started the cup season in the basic phase of the Champions League, where they took second place in Group D and, among others, defeated the Czech TTC Ostrava 2016. They advanced to the play-offs, but the defeat by Borussia Düsseldorf meant a move to the European Cup. In the play-offs, they were gradually eliminated by the Italian club ASD Marcozzi Cagliari, the defending champion of the HB Ostrov trophy, and in the semi-finals, by the French Lille Metropole TT.
Real Club Cajasur Priego TM won the Spanish league this season and won the championship title. Now they are grinding their teeth on another valuable trophy. The team’s number one is Austrian Robert GARDOS, but they also have experienced Swede Hampus SODERLUND, Frenchman Joe SEYFRID and Portuguese Diogo CARVALHO on the roster.
According to the coach of Prague’s El Niň, Petr KAUCKÝ, his team is facing a very strong opponent. “For example, we saw a few days ago that Robert Gardos played in excellent form at the World Team Championship in London. On the other hand, Tomáš Konečný has already beaten him in the past, David Reitšpies is on a roll now and we are certainly not without a chance. We are really looking forward to the final and it is perhaps a small advantage that it is not a home opponent like last year’s Havlíčkův Brod,” says Petr KAUCKÝ.
That is probably why he does not see a clear favorite in the final. “It’s really completely balanced and as I said before the quarter-final series against Danish Roskilde, our advantage will be that the return match is played in Prague. It will be decided there and the fans will be on our side.”
In a similar vein, long-time Czech representative and player with a huge amount of experience Tomáš KONEČNÝ is also burning.
“Of course, we know the players of the Spanish club, whether from personal experience or from video. I don’t think we have anything to surprise each other with. For example, I trained with Robert Gardos in Schwechat, I remember the matches against Soderlund from the world circuit tournaments. We simply know what awaits us,” he says a few days before the first match.
And he once again reminds us how great an achievement it is to advance to El Niňo. “It means a lot to the club, to be in the final of such a competition twice in a row is an extraordinary achievement. We will do our best to make it to the final this year. It is difficult to compare the two final opponents. HB Ostrov had two great reinforcements in Vladislav URSU and Andrej GACINA, who scored key points. Spanish Priego has excellent players on their roster all the time. In that comparison, it will probably be a similarly difficult series for us,” Tomáš Konečný reflects on the chances.
