Slovakian champion KVP Novรกky crowned the season with the gold medal in the Nordic League.
The Nordic League Final Eight was held this weekend in Lodz (Poland). Novรกky beat Lithuanian ลฝaibas Elektrenai 16:13 in the final and clinched the title.
Novรกky, which arrived at the Final Eight as the winner of Group A in the preliminary title, won the gold, recording six wins in as many games (three in the group stage and three at the F8). The Slovaks were one of the favorites and proved their quality.
The bronze medal went to Finland. Turun Uimarit defeated Jรคrfรคlla Vattenpolo(Sweden) 11:8 in the third-place game.
Final standings: 1. KVP Novรกky(Slovakia), 2. VK ลฝaibas Elektrenai (Lithuania), 3. Turun Uimarit (Finland), 4. Jรคrfรคlla Vattenpolo (Sweden), 5. Kometa Brno vodni polo (Czech Republic), 6.KVIK Kastrup (Denmark),ย 7.ลSTW OCMER ลรณdลบ (Poland), 8. SPIF Vattenpolo Stockholm (Sweden).
2022 Nordic League, Final Eight, Lodz
Quarterfinals
Already after the first competition day, it was clear that the Nordic League would get a new champion. Host ลSTW OCMER, the winner in the previous season, didnโt pass its hurdle in the quarterfinals. The Poles lost to Jรคrfรคlla Vattenpolo (Sweden) in a very exciting match. LSTW had a 4-goal lead at halftime (8:4), but the second half of the game belonged to the Swedish team, which equalized โ 12:12, so the battle continued in a penalty shootout. After 11 rounds of shots, Jรคrfรคlla celebrated a 21:20 victory.
Novaky secured its spot in the semifinals with an 11:8 victory over SPIF Stockholm (Sweden).
Turun Ulmarit Turku (Finland) beat Danish KVIK Kastrup 11:6, while ลฝaibas Elektranai (Lithuania) defeated Kometa Brno (Czech Republic) with ease – 16:5.
KVIK Kastrup โ Turun Uimarit Turku 6:11 (1:2,1:3, 1:2, 3:4)
KVP Novรกky โ SPIF Vattenpolo Stockholm 11:8 (4:1, 3:2, 1:2, 3:3)
ลSTW OCMER ลรณdลบ โ Jรคrfรคlla Vattenpolo 20:21 (5:3, 3:1, 1:4, 3:4, PSO 8:9)
VK ลฝaibas Elektrenai โ Kometa Brno vodnรญ polo 16:5 (4:2, 3:2, 4:1, 5:0)
Semifinals
The semifinal matches didn’t offer too much excitement.ย Novรกky defeated Turun by seven goals (14:7). Zaibas beat Jarfalla 14:9.
KVIK and Kometa advanced to the 5th-place match with comfortable victories over SPIF and LSTW OCMER respectively.
1st โ 4th place
Turun Uimarit Turku – KVP Novรกkyย 7:14 (1:4, 2:1, 3:5, 1:4)
Jรคrfรคlla Vattenpolo – VK ลฝaibas Elektrenai 9:14 (2:3, 4:4, 2:3, 1:4)
5th โ 8th place
KVIK Kastrupย – SPIF Vattenpolo 12:4 (5:0, 2:1, 1:1, 4:2)
ลSTW OCMER ลรณdลบย – Kometa Brno vodnรญ polo 7:13 (3:3, 2:2, 2:3, 0:5)
Final day
ลฝaibas opened the final game very well. The Lithuanians earned an early 3:0 and 4:1 lead. But, Novรกky, led by a former member of the national team of Slovakia, Juraj Zatoviฤ, responded with a 6:0 series of goals and went to 7:4. Midway through the third quarter, the Slovaks earned a 6-goal lead (14:8) and held back all ลฝaibasโ comeback attempts. (16:13).
The bronze-medal match had a similar scenario. The middle two quarters were crucial for the outcome. Jarfalla started better, it had a 3:1 lead at the first break. However, Turin took control and built an 8:5 lead before the last break. The Finish team kept the distance until the end (11:8). The man of the match was Alberto Espanol, the silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships with Spain and the Champions League winner with Barceloneta in 2014. The Spaniard scored four goals.
Kometa Brno blew KVIK Kastrup away in the fifth-place game – 20:5. Host and outgoing champion LSTW OCMER finished the tournament with a 15:13 victory over SPIF to win 7th place.
FINAL
KVP Novaky – VK ลฝaibas Elektrenai 16:13 (3:4, 4:1, 7:5, 2:3)ย
Bronze medal match
Turun Uimarit Turku – Jรคrfรคlla Vattenpolo 11:8 (1:3, 2:0, 5:2, 3:3)ย
5th-place game
KVIK Kastrup – Kometa Brno 5:20 (1:4, 1:6, 1:4, 2:6)
7th-place game
SPIF Vattenpolo – ลSTW OCMER ลรณdลบ 13:15 (3:4, 2:4, 2:3, 6:4)
For all scores and statistics visit the Nordic League tournament page, powered by Total Waterpolo Arena.
