In the first semi-final match of the SEHA - Gazprom League Final 4 tournament, PPD Zagreb managed to win against Nexe Nasice 32:26 reaching another final. The middle of the first half turned out to be the key period of this one as Zagreb managed to open the gap to six goals basically sealing the deal in this one.

Ivica Obrvan, PPD Zagreb coach:
Congrats to my guys first of all. With this win, we've achieved our primary goal here. I can say I'm satisfied with our performance, mainly with the defensive part. We were expecting a hard match, I feel like we’ve displayed great energy and team spirit here today. We’ve obviously had some minor ups and downs both in the first and second half but I feel like we’ve in the end reached a well-deserved win.

Branko Tamse, Nexe coach:
A well-deserved win for PPD Zagreb here today. I once again tried to rotate the team as much as possible, and give everyone a chance. This team has to strive to play the full course of the match at the highest possible level. On Sunday our goal remains to show as much as possible. I feel like today we were only good at the beginning of the first and in the middle of the second which obviously isn’t enough to defeat a team like Zagreb. We had a nine-minute-long goalless gap in the first allowing them to basically seal the deal in this one.

Timur Dibirov, PPD Zagreb player:
It’s a special feeling for me to be here and secure another trip to the final in this jersey. Today we were a better team but we really respect them, their whole team and their coach. Defense was functioning really well and on the other hand – it is still the beginning of the season which means we have plenty of time to get everything else going. We’re happy to be in the final. I assure you – none of the four teams came here to win only a final match. We’re all here to win both and we will definitely do our best to achieve that goal on Sunday.

Marin Jelinic, Nexe player:
Congrats to PPD Zagreb on a fair fight and a win in the end. We tried to be as aggressive as possible in the opening part of the game but the middle of the first turned out to be the key as they managed to storm off and decide this one. We have a second chance to show our best handball on Sunday and we’ll do our best to use it.

Photo credit: kolektiffimages