The Euro League preliminary round kicked off today.
Sixteen women teams are battling for the quarterfinals. They are split into four groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
There were a few exciting games on Day 1. UZSC Utrecht (Netherlands) produced a huge surprise by defeating titleholder Sabadell, which plays at home, 11:7.
Euro League 2019/20, Preliminary Round, Day 1
Group E (Athens)
Olympiacos – Mediterrani 13:8 (3:1, 2:2, 6:1, 2:4)
Olympiacos Piraeus: Christmas 3, Asimaki 2, Plevritou 2, Eleftheriadou 2, Avramidou 1, Douli 1, Tsoukala 1, Myriokefalitaki 1.
CE Mediterrani: Tarrago 5, Toha 2, Dalmases 1.
Dunaujvaros – Mataro 15:10 (3:4, 6:4, 2:1, 4:1)
Dunaujvaros: Horvath 7, Garda 3, Gurisatti 2, Mahieu 2, Valyi 1.
Mataro: Cambray 3, Gonzaley 3, Gual 2, Vicente 1, Games 1.
The tournament in Athens was opened by an encounter between Olympiacos Piraeus, the runner-up in the 2019 Euro League, and Mediterrani. Roser Tarrago, the MVP of the World Championships in Gwangju, scored five goals for Mediterrani, but that wasn’t enough. Olympiacos recorded a 13:8 win.
The other Spanish side in this group also suffered a loss. Hungarian Dunaujvaros, the 2018 LEN Trophy winner, defeated Mataro. The Spaniards started well, they had a 5:3 and 6:4 lead, but the Hungarians took control midway through the second quarter and went to a 15:10 win. Brigitta Horvath, with seven goals, was a hero of the victory.
Ranking: 1. Dunaujvaros (HUN) 3 , 2. Olympiacos (GRE) 3, 3. Mataro (ESP) 0, 4. Mediterrani (ESP) 0.
Group F (Sabadell)
Sabadell – UZSC Utrecht 7:11 (2:4, 3:3, 2:2, 0:2)
Astralpool Sabadell: Sohi 4, Morell 1, Garcia 1, Eggens 1.
UZSC Utrecht: Van der Sloot 4, Sevenich 3, Bas 2, Genee 1, Van der Weijden 1.
UVSE – SIS Roma 6:5 (2:1, 3:1, 1:2, 0:1)
UVSE Budapest: Rybanska 2, Parkes 2, Antal 1, Kisteleki 1.
SIS Roma: Chiappini 2, Tabani 1, Picozzi 1, Di Claudio 1.
The reigning European champion Sabadell still hasn’t recovered from a home defeat to Orizzonte in the match for the LEN Super Cup on Tuesday (11:13). The Spaniards disappointed their fans once more, as they lost to UZSC Utrecht on the opening day of the Euro League tournament. The Dutch, led by Catarina van Der Sloot, earned an early 2:0 advantage and they were leading until the end. Early in the 2nd period, UZSC built a 4-goal advantage (6:2). Sabadell cut the deficit to 1 twice (5:6 and 7:8), but they couldn’t equalize.
UVSE Budapest was better than SIS Roma. The first half was crucial for the outcome. UVSE had a 5:2 advantage at halftime. In the middle of the third period, the Hungarians added a goal for 6:2. In the remaining time, they couldn’t find the net but they kept the win. Roma scored its 5th goal in the last second when everything was decided – 6:5.
Ranking: 1. UZSC Utrecht (Netherlands) 3, 2. UVSE (HUN) 3, 3. SIS Roma (ITA) 0, 4. Sabadell (ESP) 0.
Group G (Kirishi)
Kinef – Tetteroo 25:5 (7:0, 6:1, 5:3, 7:1)
Kinef-Surgutneftegas: Prokofyeva 5, Simanovich 4, Glyzina 3, Zubkova 2, Krimer 2, Markoch 2, Soboleva 2, Ivanova 2, Ryzhkova 2, Pavlova 1.
ZVL Tetteroo: Voorvelt 1, Roels 1, De Groot 1, Keijzer 1, Schuijt 1.
Plebiscito – Vouliagmeni 6:9 (3:2,0:3, 2:3, 1:1)
Plebiscito Padova: Ranalli 3, Queirolo 1, Millo 1, Savioli 1.
NC Vouliagmeni: Ninou 4, Diamantopoulou 2, Elliniadi 1, Xenaki 1.
Greek Vouliagmeni defeated Plebiscito (Italy) in the derby of Day 1 in Kirishi. The Italians had a slim advantage at the first break (3:2). After that, the Greeks dominated. By the middle of the 3rd quarter, they rolled to a safe 7:3 lead.
Host Kinef found it easy to beat ZVL Tetteroo.
Ranking: 1. Kinef (RUS) 3, 2. Vouliagmeni (GRE) 3, 3. Plebiscito (ITA) 0, 4. ZVL Tetteroo (NED) 0.
Group H (Catania)
Orizzonte – Sant Andreu 14;7 (2:1, 5:2, 4:2, 3:2)
Ekipe Orizzonte:Marletta 5, Garibotti 2, Aiello 2, Ioannou 1, Bekhazi 1, Palmieri 1, Emmolo 1, McKelvey 1.
Sant Andreu: Azner 2, Olive 1, Mora 1, Farre 1, Rubio 1, Prieto 1.
BVSC – Dynamo Uralochka 11:18 (2:3, 3:4, 4:5, 2:6)
BVSC Zuglo: T. Farkas 4, Takacs 2, Utassy 1, K. Farkas 1, Leimeter 1, Kele 1, Gyongyossy 1.
Dinamo Uralochka: Panfilova 6, Popova 3, Karimova 3, Vorontsova 2, Bersneva 2, Zelentsova 1, Galimzianova 1
Freshly crowned Super Cup winner Orizzonte opened its Euro League campaign in style. Orizzonte, the host of the group in Catania, started slowly in the match against Sant Andreu. In the 9th minute, the teams were tied (2:2). Then Orizzonte scored four straight goals in three minutes and jumped to a 6:2 lead. The Italians maintained a 2-goal advantage until halftime (7:3), while they opened the 3rd quarter with two fast goals. They increased the margin to 6 (9:3) and there was no way back for Sant Andreu.
Dinamo Uralochka defeated BVSC in a flood of goals – 18:11. The Hungarian team kept up with Dinamo until the middle of the 3rd quarter. In the 20th minute, BVSC trailed 6:8. Quickly after that, the Russians made a 5-goal gap (11:6), and after that, their win wasn’t in danger.
Ranking: 1. Dinamo (RUS) 3, 2. Orizzonte (ITA) 3, 3. BVSC (HUN) 0, 4. Sant Andreu (ESP) 0.
