The Olympiacos men's polo team clinched the Greek Cup title for the seventh time in a row and the 25th time in its storied history
In a dominant performance during the Final-8 final, their 32nd appearance in the competition, the multi-winning team defeated Apollon Smyrnis 16-8 at the Laimos swimming pool to secure the Greek Cup and their first title of the 2023-24 season. Led by MVP Papanastasiou, who was the top scorer of the Final-8, Olympiacos surged ahead after a tied first period (3-3), establishing commanding leads of 8-3 and 11-5 to ultimately triumph over Apollon in Vouliagmeni. Hervo Kolianin's squad now sets its sights on claiming the championship and Champions League titles to complete a historic treble.
With this victory, Olympiakos' total haul across men's and women's team sports stands at an impressive 310 titles.
The match saw Olympiacos take an early lead twice (0-1, 1-2) through Gouvi (6:38) and Genidounia (4:06) before Apollon mounted a 3-0 streak to go ahead 3-2. However, Genidounias equalized with a goal at 3-3 in the first period. In the subsequent eight minutes, Olympiacos surged with a 6-0 run, including a counterattack goal by Dimos, to establish a significant lead at 3-8 before Apollon narrowed the scoreline to 8-4 by halftime. The "red and white" team continued their dominance in the third period, extending their advantage to 5-11 after a goal by Gillas, with Apollon responding to make it 11-6. The final result of 16-8 was sealed by Dimos with a late goal in the fourth period.
Quarter scores: 3-3, 1-5, 2-3, 2-5
Key moments:
1st quarter: Gouvis 0-1 (foul, 6:38), Solanakis 1-1 (foul, 5:29), Genidounias 1-2 (region, 4:06), Sousiasvili 2-2 (f/f, 3:33), Chondrokoukis 3-2 (region, 2:42), Genidounias 3-3 (penalty, 2:07)
2nd quarter: Alafragkis 3-4 (p/p, 6:25), Dervisis 3-5 (region, 3:44), Gillas 3-6 (p/p, 2:45), Fundoulis 3-7 (against, 1:54), Dimos 3-8 (against, 0:21), Bogdanovic 4-8 (penalty, 0:04)
3rd quarter: Vamos 4-9 (district, 7:33), Gardikas 5-9 (district, 5:34), Vamos 5-10 (district, 4:44), Gillas 5-11 (against, 4:08), Goniotakis 6-11 (f/f, 0:21)
4th quarter: Papanastasiou 6-12 (p/p, 6:43), Goniotakis 7-12 (p/p, 5:34), Alamanos 8-12 (region, 4:42), Dimos 8-13 (region, 4:16), Nikolaidis 8-14 (district, 2:46), Dimos 8-15 (against, 0:38), Dimos 8-16 (against, 0:02)
Players:
Apollon Smyrnis (Nikos Deligiannis): Galanopoulos, Alamanos 1, Bogdanovich 1, Mokkas, Troulos, Diplaros, Sousashvili 1, Chondrokoukis 1, Goniotakis 2, Gardikas 1, Tsacheilidis, Solanakis 1, Kavousanos, Tottis, Tsiavaliaris
Olympiacos (Hervo Kolianin): Zerdevas, Vamos 2, Genidounias 2, Fundoulis 1, Gouvis 1, Dervisis 1, Bouslie, Alafragis 1, Dimos 4, Nikolaidis 1, Papanastasiou 1, Damigos, Gillas 2
