Cyril Dumoulin and Nicolas Tournat are the names which will be written in the history of HBC Nantes. The French team qualified for the Sunday’s final of the VELUX EHF Champions League by beating PSG Handball 32:28 (17:14) at the first semi-final in front of 20.000 fans at Lanxess Arena.
The French “outsiders” showed once again that they can play and beat the team with the biggest stars in world of handball. From the very beginning of the match, team led by coach Thierry Anti was in lead pushed up by fantastic line-player Nicolas Tournat, who was unstoppable for PSG Handball defense, but also, the crucial player of his team defensive line alongside goalkeeper Cyril Dumoulin.
HBC Nantes was in lead 9:6 (14.) when PSG Handball coach Zvonimir Serdarusic called for time-out, but his team, didn’t get back in the game until the end of the first half. Strong PSG Handball back-line couldn’t keep the level with the rivals. Nedim Remili kept some reasonable distance between two teams with three goals in a row at the end of the first half.
Macedonian superstar Kiril Lazarov scored his eighth goal for 28:23 lead eight minutes until the end, but Karabattic and Co. managed to get back in the game until 29:27, when Cyril Dumoulin made some crucial saves (7-meter shot of Mikkel Hansen) to ensure dreaming last 60 minutes of the season for his team.
