The Cup of Good Hope

“We worked hard for this final. Now we want to bring the whole thing to a successful conclusion,” says Sebastian Waser. The Cup trophy is actually within reach for the Raiffeisen Flyers Wels. Only the Traiskirchen Lions will stand in the way on Sunday (3:30 p.m., live on ORF Sport+ and laola1.tv). A final in which the Welsers have a few trump cards despite their role as guests.

Omen: In 2006, the predecessor club WBC won the only cup title in the Wels club’s history. And back then, of all places, Traiskirchen was the losing opponent in the final. One player can remember this very well: Fabricio Vay, now 37, was on the floor for the Lions 18 years ago. But the lions are also starving: in 2000 and 2001 the cup winners were Traiskirchen, and since then not much has gone in that direction.

Away strength: The fact that they have to compete in the cup away from home is nothing new for the Flyers. They had also played the previous three games on the way to their first final abroad and even eliminated Superliga table leaders Dukes Klosterneuburg in the semi-finals after a real extra-time thriller. More than 100 fans from Wels, all dressed in black, will accompany the team to what is probably the most important game of the year in the city of 19,000. “I’m really hot. The atmosphere will be sizzling thanks to the Wels fans traveling with me,” says captain and fighting machine Christian von Fintel, who is also not afraid of the famously small hall of the hosts, who were awarded the final by drawing lots. The Lions Dome was sold out with 850 spectators in just one hour. “We’ve shown many times that it doesn’t matter much to us,” says the German.

Losing streak: The nerves of the Wels opponents in the league were on edge recently. The Traiskirchen team lost their last four games. But the duel between the two was a while ago. In the third round of the championship three months ago, Wels clearly won 83:65 in front of the home crowd. With the recently signed 2.03 meter forward Manny Patterson, Traiskirchen brought another “big man” on board who has European Cup experience.

Team spirit: “Nobody is too good for a task. Regardless of whether we are a leader or a bench player, we are dangerous as a team and that is what sets us apart,” says Wels national team player Renato Poljak about the Flyers’ greatest strength. He was able to recover from his injury over the last few days in preparation for the final, just like sniper Arvydas Gydra and veteran Chris Ferguson. With a 10-man rotation you have probably the broadest squad of the local clubs.