The fourth round of the Serbian League saw two derby matches. However, neither of the games wasn’t thrilling. Novi Beograd defeated Crvena Zvezda in the encounter between Champions League clubs – 18:10. Reigning champion Radnicki trashed Sabac.
Favorites collected points with ease in the third round of the Croatian Championship.
The Montenegrin Water Polo Federation determined the dates of the first competition in the season, the National Cup.
2021/22 Serbian League, Day 4
Novi Beograd – Crvena Zvezda 18:10 (5:3, 4:3, 3:2, 6:2)
Radnicki – Sabac 17:5 (5:1, 3:1, 5:1, 4:2)
 Zemun – Partizan 6:15 (1:7, 2:1, 1:4, 2:3)
Vojvodina – Proleter 16:7 (2:0, 4:2, 5:1, 5:4)
Nais – Valis 6:17 (0:3, 2:5, 3:5, 1:5)
Postponed match of Day 1
Partizan – Sabac 15:10 (3:2, 5:5, 3:1, 4:2)
Radnicki, the Serbian and the Regional League champion, showed no mercy to its predecessor on the Serbian throne Sabac. The visitors scored an opening goal, but Radnicki responded with eight for an 8:1 lead. Sabac wasn’t able to recover from that shock. Milos Cuk and Stefan Brankovic led Radnicki with three goals each, while goalkeeper Lazar Dobozanov did an excellent job, posting 11 saves.
Novi Beograd continued its series of victories. This time, the league-leader defeated Crvena Zvezda convincingly – 18:10. Since the beginning of the season, Novi Beograd has scored 91 goals (22,75 per match). The hosts rushed to a 5:1 lead. Still, Crvena Zvezda managed to come back and reduced the gap to one goal deep into the second and early in the third period (6:7 and 8:9). However, Novi Beograd built a six-goal lead midway through the fourth period (14:8) and killed all suspense. Captain Dusan Mandic and Greek Angelos Vlachopoulos were the best scorers. Each netted four goals for Novi Beograd, Georgian Nika Shushiashvili added three. Tankovic, DJurdjic and Pjesivac scored two goals for Crvena Zvezda.
On Tuesday, Novi Beograd and Radnicki will face off in Belgrade in the first round of the Champions League. Crvena Zvezda will host Spandau a day after. To remind, Novi Beograd defeated Radnicki (18:14) in the national league match last week.
Partizan keeps a perfect record as Novi Beograd. The seven-time European champion recorded two wins in four days. It beat Sabac 15:10 in the postponed derby of Day 1, with four goals from Milan Aleksic. Stefan Mitrovic and Filip Radojevic (both Partizan) and Ognjen Stojanovic (Sabac) scored three. Partizan, playing without Olympic champions Mitrovic and Aleksic, defeated Zemun easily in the 4th round. Centre-forward Nemanja Vico was atop the scorers’ list (three goals) in this game.
1 Novi Beograd 4 – 12
2 Partizan 4 – 12
3 Radnicki 4 – 9
4 Valis 4 – 7
5 Crvena Zvezda 3 – 6
6 Sabac 4 – 6
7 Vojvodina 4 – 4
8 Proleter 4 – 0
9 Zemun 3 – 0
10 Nais 4 – 0
2021/22 Croatian League, Day 3
Zadar 1952 – Jug AO 8:28 (1:8, 1:8, 3:5, 3:7)
Jadran S – Mornar 19:8 (4:2, 4:3, 6:1, 5:2)
Mladost – POSK 14:4 (4:1, 4:2, 3:0, 3:1)
Medvescak – Solaris 11:23 (1:3, 4:6, 1:9, 5:5)
Primorje – KPK Korcula 17:9 (3:2, 3:1, 7:5, 4:1)
Jug enjoyed an easy cruise in Zadar, beating the home team 28:8. Youngsters Ivan Vukojevic (6 goals),Marin Tomasovic (4) and FIlip Krzic (4) were the leading scorers, along with Greek Argyropoulos, who found the net four times.
Jadran Split defeated its local rival Mornar 19:8. Mornar kept up with the Champions League club until the middle break, but Jadran decided everything scoring five unanswered goals in the first five minutes of the second half for 13:5. Konstantin Kharkov scored five goals, Jerko Marinic Kragic and Duje Pejkovic added three each.
Title-holder Mladost didn’t have a complex task in the match against a young team of POSK and recorded a 14:4 victory. Matijas Biljaka netted four goals, he was followed by Marin Dasic (3). Mladost got back on the winning track after three consecutive losses to Jadran Split (one in the national league and two in the Champions League qualifications).
Next week, Jug and Jadran will start in the Champions League. Jug will play against Hannover in Dubrovnik; Jadran travels to Spain to face Barceloneta. Mladost will host Telimar in the 1st leg of the LEN Euro Cup quarterfinals.
Solaris earned an away win in Zagreb, beating Medvescak. The game was more-or-less balanced until the 16th minute. A minute before the middle break, only two goals separated the rivals (Solaris led 7:5). But, shortly after Solaris started dominating and entered the final quarter with a huge 19:6 advantage. Jerko Penava contributed to the win with six goals.
1 Jug 3 – 9
2 Jadran 3 – 9
3 Solaris 3 – 9
4 Mladost 3 – 6
5 Mornar 3 – 6
6 Primorje 3 – 3
7 KPK 3 – 3
8 Medvescak 3 – 0
9 Zadar 1952 3 – 0
10 POSK 3 – 0
Season in Montenegro starts in November
The water polo season in Montenegro will start with the National Cup. Jadran Herceg Novi, Primorac, Budva and Cattaro will take part in the Cup. Two round-robin tournaments will be played in the first stage – in Budva (November 7 – 9) and in Kotor (December 13 -15). After the tournaments, the 1st-placed and the 2nd-placed team after two tournaments will advance to the final, while the 3rd-placed and 4th-placed will play in the bronze-medal matches. These two games will are scheduled for December 22.
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