Trabzonspor eyes Turkish Cup final to complete domestic double
Trabzonspor fans celebrate winning the Süper Lig, Istanbul, Turkey, May 8, 2022. (Reuters Photo)


Newly crowned Turkish Süper Lig champion Trabzonspor will turn its focus to the battle for the Turkish Cup as it looks to complete a domestic double this season.

After clinching a first top-tier title win in 38 years, the Black Sea Storms will visit Kayserispor for the cup semifinal the second leg Tuesday.

A domestic double will be the icing on the cake for coach Abdullah Avcı’s side, which already has nine Turkish Cups to its name.

Trabzonspor started this season’s cup campaign in the fifth qualifying round, where it defeated second-tier TFF 1. Lig side Boluspor.

It faced off with Denizlispor in the last 16, before seeing off Süper Lig side Antalyaspor 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

The Turkish league champion then met Kayserispor in the semis and won the first leg 1-0 to take a slim advantage.

It has played the Turkish Cup final on 15 occasions, winning nine of them. The last cup win for the Burgundy Blues came in the 2019-2020 season.

It also beat Başakşehir 2-1 to win the Turkish Super Cup on Jan. 27, 2021. It was the club’s first silverware under coach Avcı.

Galatasaray holds the record for the most number of Turkish cups at 18 each, followed by Beşiktaş with 10.

In the other semifinal, Sivasspor will host Alanyaspor on Wednesday.

Sivasspor holds a one-goal advantage after winning the first leg in Alanya 2-1.

The final will be played at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium on May 26.