Kielce remain serious to take the win in Nantes
Kielce had nothing to play for in Nantes tonight, as Barça had already secured first spot. The Polish side could not be matched by either Nantes or Kiel, standing behind them.
But that does not mean the Polish team came as tourists to France, as they displayed an impressive performance to win in an arena where Kiel, Aalborg and Szeged all lost this season.
While the hosts did put their foot to the pedal in the second half, even taking a two-goal advantage with 15 minutes to play, Kielce were helped by a great performance from Andreas Wolff. The German goalkeeper stopped nine shots in 30 minutes to help his team return home victorious.
GROUP B
HBC Nantes (FRA) vs Lomza Industria Kielce (POL) 30:33 (14:17)
- with Daniel Dujshebaev at the wheel, Kielce took an early lead thanks to three straight goals from their Spanish left-back
- with Viktor Hallgrimsson making some important saves and Valero Rivera netting four times in the first half, Nantes came back into the game after being down by five at the 21st minute mark
- the second half was a long game of back and forth, with Nantes making the scores level and even taking the lead, before Viktor Hallgrimsson injured his elbow, 15 minutes before the end
- his nemesis, Andreas Wolff, stopped five shots in the meantime, to help the visitors break away on the scoreboard, taking a maximum advantage of five goals at the 53rd minute
- while Valero Rivera netted seven for Nantes, Szymon Sicko and Arakdiusz Moryto both scored six for Kielce
- Kielce remain second in the group while Nantes can finish third or fourth, as they go head-to-head with THW Kiel
Nicolas Tournat celebrated his comeback in Nantes
Three seasons ago, Nicolas Tournat left Nantes for Kielce, but he never had the proper opportunity to wave his former fans goodbye. Tonight, the French line player brought all his family with him to celebrate his comeback at the H Arena. The welcome of the Nantes fans was deafening when he entered the court. Playing thirty minutes, he scored only one but could not hide his emotion at the end of the game. His comeback was probably was one of the nicest moments of the whole evening of competition.
We are very happy to be qualified for the next round. It was important to fight against amazing team like Nantes. We had the possibility to give playing time to young players. I am very satisfied with my players’ performance. We still have one match left against Barça and we’ll give everything to win. Nantes made too many mistakes and made it easier for us to win. The pressure was on them, not us.
