Gantoise will meet Waterloo Ducks in the Belgian men’s championship final knowing they already have an EHL ticket in the back pocket.
That is thanks to their respective semi-final wins over Royal Léopold and KHC Dragons last weekend.
For reigning champions Gantoise, they only scraped into the playoffs via a late miracle in the regular season but they were good value in defeating table-toppers Léo in both legs last weekend.
They won 2-1 in Ghent and then prevailed 3-2 in the second leg thanks to goals from Antoine Kina, Emile Esquelin and the clincher from Etienne Tynevez.
Pascal Kina told Le Soir said his side were deserved winners: “We controlled the [second] game and kept the ball. I have to highlight the great performance of my players even though I was well aware of what they were capable of.
“It was no coincidence to beat Leopold twice. And that’s impossible if you’re not in great shape. I knew that we would be stronger than the Ucclois during this second semi-final. We had analysed our opponents well and we had discovered the vulnerabilities to exploit.”
For Waterloo, they trailed 3-2 after game one but bounced back with a perfect performance to win 3-1 with a hat trick from captain Victor Charlet.
It sets up a rematch of the 2023 decider on Saturday at 4pm (CET). Whoever wins will advance straight to the EHL FINAL8 while the runner-up will compete in the KO16.
