The games of the national Cups have been played this week in Croatia and Serbia.
Ten Croatian clubs have been very busy this weekend. Five rounds of the qualifications for the Final Four of the Croatian Cup were played in three days (Friday morning – Sunday morning). The teams were split into two groups. After the exhausting three-day tournaments, Jug, Jadran Split, Mladost, and Solaris qualified for the F4.
The Serbian clubs played the quarterfinals of the Cup. Only one game in each pair was played in this competition stage. As expected, Novi Beograd, Partizan, Crvena Zvezda and Radnicki advanced to the final tournament.
2021/22 Croatian Cup, qualifications
Group A (Split)
1st round
Jadran S – Mornar 13:7 (3:1, 3:2, 2:3, 5:1)
Zadar 1952 – Mladost 8:22 (2:5, 2:5, 1:5, 3:7)
2nd round
Jadran S – Zadar 26:3 (6:1, 7:0, 6:0, 7:2)
Mladost – Primorje 13:9 (3:2, 5:3, 3:3, 2:1)
3rd round
Zadar – Mornar 5:17 (1:7, 0:4, 2:2, 2:4)
Primorje – Jadran S 10:24 (4:6, 2:7, 0:4, 4:7)
4th round
Mladost – Mornar 17:13 (6:5, 4:3, 3:1, 4:4)
Zadar – Primorje 10:20 (1:4, 2:6, 3:4, 4:6)
5th round
Primorje – Mornar 11:12 (4:4, 1:3, 1:2, 5:3)
Mladost – Jadran S 7:10 (1:2, 1:4, 3:2, 2:2)
Favorites Mladost and Jadran Split made no mistake in the first three rounds and they were unbeaten before the derby on the last day of the tournament. That game decided which team would finish atop.
Jadran Split, playing without two key players (Konstantin Kharkov and Niksa Dobud) had an excellent start and led 6:2 at halftime. Mladost managed to halve the deficit early in the third period (4:6), but the hosts regained a 4-goal lead quickly (8:4). Still, Jadran still didn’t break the Zagreb-based side. Three minutes and 15 seconds before the end, Mladost came very close (7:8). Immediately after, Jadran missed a penalty and gave a great chance to the Zagreb-based side to equalize. Still, Mladost failed to catch up with Jadran, which scored the last two goals in the game for a 10:7 victory.
In the semifinals, Jadran will play against Solaris (2nd-placed in Group B), while Mladost will face Jug Dubrovnik.
1 Jadran S 4 – 12
2 HAVK Mladost 4 – 9
3 Mornar BS 4 – 6
4 Primorje EB 4 – 3
5 Zadar 1952 4 – 0
Group B (Dubrovnik)
1st round
Jug – KPK Korcula 23:4 (5:0, 7:1, 7:1, 4:2).
POSK – Medvescak 8:12 (2:3, 3:2, 1:4, 2:3)
2nd round
Jug – Solaris 18:9 (5:1, 3:4, 7:3, 3:1)
Medvescak – KPK Korcula 17:12 (5:4, 4:3, 3:2, 5:3)
3rd round
POSK – Solaris 6:15 (0:5, 1:2, 2:2, 3:6)
Jug – Medvescak 21:11 (6:3, 5:1, 8:2, 2:5)
4th round
Solaris – Medvescak 21:7 (5:2, 5:2, 4:1, 7:2)
POSK – KPK 11:9 (2:3, 4:3, 4:2, 1:1)
5th round
KPK – Solaris 10:17 (2:4, 4:4, 1:6, 3:3)
Jug – POSK 13:4 (3:1, 8:1, 1:1, 1:1)
Jug enjoyed a leisurely cruise in Group B in Dubrovnik. The hosts recorded four convincing wins, even in a duel against the biggest rival in the group – Solaris Sibenik. Jug taught a lesson to Solaris with an 18:9 victory in the third round. Captain Elvis Fatovic, who was out of the team for a while because of a positive coronavirus test before the Champions League match against Spandau, returned to the squad in this match and scored three goals. Alexandros Papanastasiou topped the scorers’ list in this match with five goals.
Solaris suffered a convincing loss against Jug. But the Sibenik-based side didn’t have any problems beating the remaining three rivals – POSK, KPK Korcula and Medvescak. It secured 2nd place and a spot at the Final Four.
1 Jug AO 4 – 12
2 Solaris 4- 9
3 Medvescak 4 – 6
4 POSK 4 – 3
5 KPK Korcula 4 – 0
2021/22 Serbian Cup quarterfinals
Sabac – Crvena Zvezda 7:12 (2:2, 2:5, 0:3, 3:2)
Valis – Novi Beograd 7:25 (1:6,4:9, 0:5, 2:5)
Banjica – Partizan 6:18 (1:3, 2:3, 1:5, 2:7)
Radnički – Vojvodina 21:9 (5:3, 5:2, 6:2, 5:2)
There were no exciting games in the Serbian Cup quarterfinals. All favorites recorded easy wins.
The 2020/21 Cup winner Crvena Zvezda visited Sabac. After a balanced first quarter (2:2), Crvena Zvezda (which played without captain Milos Vukicevic) dominated the second and the third period. They went to 10:4 and secured the victory. Bogdan Djurdjic scored three goals in a 12:7 victory.
Novi Beograd demolished Valis 25:7 with four goals from Dusan Mandic and Nikola Jaksic.
Josip Vrlic (Radnicki) Photo: KVK Radnicki
Reigning champion Radnicki, led by left-handed Aleksa Ukropina (8 goals), demolished Vojvodina – 21:9.
Two lefties Filip Radojevic and Lazar Vickovic netted three goals each for Partizan, which defeated Banjica 18:6.
The draw for the Final Four will be held next week.
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