The news of the week in Serbian water polo is a feat achieved by Partizan. The “Black Whites “defeated Novi Beograd 12:10 in the 2nd match of the semifinals of the playoffs and prolonged the series to the 3rd game.
The 3rd match will be decisive in the pair Radnicki – Crvena Zvezda. Radnicki edged out Crvena Zvezda in the game in Kragujevac – 9:8, so the series will be closed in Belgrade..
Novi Beograd and Crvena Zvezda will be the hosts in the third matches, scheduled for May 3.
2022/23 Serbian League, playoffs, semifinals (best-of-three), Matches 2
Partizan – Novi Beograd 12:10 (2:2, 3:4, 4:2, 3:2) – score in the series 1:1
Partizan: Trtovic 3, Smiljevic 3, Milos 2, Paparic 2, Gak 1, Bodiroga 1.
Novi Beograd: Granados 3, Pijetlovic 2, N.Jaksic 2, Drasovic 1, Vlachopoulos 1, Shushiashvili 1.
Until this weekend, Novi Beograd suffered only one loss in the 2023 Serbian Championships. In the 2nd round of the regular season, it lost to Radnicki (14:15). After that, Novi Beograd posted one win after another. Partizan was a tough opponent to the favorite in the first match of the semifinals, played at Novi Beograd’s pool a week ago. Still, Novi Beograd broke the “Black Whites’ ” resistance in the last quarter and a half (15:11).
In the second match, Novi Beograd dictated the pace in the first half and built a 2-goal advantage twice (5:3, 6:4). Partizan halved the deficit before the middle break, and leveled early in the third quarter (6:6).
Drasovic put Novi Beograd in front from a penalty shot – 7:6 in the 18th minute. It turned out that it was Novi Beograd’s last lead in the match. Partizan produced a 3:0 run and went to 9:7. At the finish of the quarter, Vlachopoulos made it 8:9. Still,Partizan controlled the result. It regained a 2-goal lead (10:8 and 11:9). The hosts even had a few chances to go to +3. But, the visitors responded on both occasions and reduced the gap. However, Novi Beograd had no response after Petar Smiljevic netted his third goal for 12:10 (31st minute). In the next possession, Novi Beograd had a man-up, but goalkeeper Evgeny Kostrov saved a shot from Dusko Pijetlovic. Partizan failed to score and secure a win in its next possession, and Novi Beograd still was in the game. Everything was decided when the visitors’ captain Vlachopoulos hit the post with 30 seconds left on the clock.
“We believed that we could beat Novi Beograd. We were in an even contest with Novi Beograd for three quarters in the semifinals of the national Cup. We offered strong resistance in the first match of the semifinals. But, we didn’t hold on until the end. This time, we played better and broke the psychological barriers we had in the previous games against Novi Beograd. We are mentally stronger now. Novi Beograd still plays in two competitions, it had a demanding match in Dubrovnik a few days ago. We managed to make the most of it, Partizan’s coach Milos Korolija said.
We asked him if a new surprise was possible in the third game.
“If we win, it won’t be a surprise after this victory. But, Novi Beograd is still a favorite, especially in the home field. We respect the rival.”
Zivko Gocic, Novi Beograd’s coach, congratuladed Partizan and commented:
“We lacked concentration in crucial moments. We battled and were motivated, but it wasn’t enough to beat Partizan, which played very well. We are not a team that can beat the rivals like Partizan is if we do 60 or 70 percents of our best. We have to work on it and improve our mistakes at the finish of the season.
Radnicki – Crvena zvezda 9:8 (2:1, 3:1, 4:4, 0:2) – score in the series 1:1
Radnicki: Gavrilovic 3, Draskovic 3, Jankovic 1, Ukropina 1, Kojic 1.
Crvena Zvezda: Radovic 5, Vasic 2, Milojevic 1.
Radnicki ended the losing streak in the matches against Crvena Zvezda after three defeats in a row (the semifinals of the Serbian Cup, the regular season and the first match of the playoffs semifinals)
The hosts opened the game against Crvena Zvezda excellently, with a 5:1 lead and led throughout the match. Goalkeeper Stefan Todorovski, who replaced still injured Lazar Dobozanov, did a great job. The Belgrade-based side, which is still without centre-forward Milos Vukicevic, reduced the gap to two in the third quarter (3:5, 4:6). Still, the hosts rebuilt a 4-goal distance, with goals from Nikola Kojic and Bogdan Gavrilovic (8:4).
Photo: KVK Radnicki
The Kragujevac-based team entered the final quarter leading 9:6. Crvena Zvezda came very close three minutes before the end – the best scorer of the match, Marko Radovic converted a penalty shot for 8:9. There were no goals in the remaining time.
Radnicki prolonged the series, but two important players suffered injuries in this game. Josip Vrlic had to finish the game after a few minutes because his jaw was broken at the very start, and defender Luka Pljevancic had his nose broken in the 32nd minute after Seman punched him. So it’s questionable who will be able to play the next game.
In the statements for the club’s website, Radnicki’s director Jugoslav Vasovic and head coach Uros Stevanovic congratulated Crvena Zvezda on a big battle. But, both criticized the refereeing and said that the mentioned two fouls hadn’t been sanctioned according to the rules – nobody was excluded when Vrlic was injured. Seman’s foul was characterized as an exclusion with substitution, and the two claim it was brutality.
Video of the foul in the last minute provided by KVK Radnicki
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