Three teams from Italy, three clubs from Serbia, and two Hungarian clubs advanced to the eighth finals of the LEN Euro Cup. Besides the representatives of these three water polo powerhouses, the clubs from Spain, France, Montenegro and Romania managed to pass their hurdles in the Euro Cup Round 2.
The second round of the LEN Euro Cup finished today. These are the clubs that qualified for the round of 16: Sabac, Partizan, Crvena Zvezda (all Serbia), Ortigia, Savona, Trieste (all Italy), Szolnok, Honved (both Hungary), Tourcoing (France), Barcelona (Spain), Primorac (Montenegro) and Steaua (Romania).
Besides the 12 teams, the four losers of the duels in the Champions League Qualification Round 3 will play in the eighth finals, scheduled for November 30 and December 14.
The most exciting matches of today’s program were held in Duisburg and Strasbourg. Barcelona defeated Telimar 12:11 in the group in Duisburg and won 2nd place, ahead of the Italians, which means that the finalist of the LEN Euro Cup in the last season finished its European campaign. Partizan beat host Strasbourg (12:9) in the last game in Group B and advanced to Round 3. Strasbourg will focus on domestic competitions after suffering its first loss on the European stage this season.
Day 4, results – Group A: Trieste – Pays d’Aix 16:6, Jadran HN – Sabac 5:9, Group B: Savona – De Zaan 14:10, Strasbourg – Partizan 9:12, Group C: Telimar – Barcelona 11:12, Tourcoing – ASC Duisburg 21:11, Group D: PAOK – Primorac 7:13, Mladost – Honved 12:11 , Group E: Szolnok – Crvena zvezda 10:6, Montpellier – EVK Zaibas 13:8, Group F: BVSC – Vlalis 18:8, Steaua – Vitoria 14:5
LEN Euro Cup, Round 2 (October 27 – 30), Day 4
Group A (Sabac), Round 5
Trieste – Pays d’Aix 16:6 (3:1, 5:2, 6:0, 2:3)
Trieste: Mezzarobba 3, Inaba 3, Bini 3, Mladossich 2, Podgornik 1, Petronio 1, Buljubasic 1, Vrlic 1.
Pays d’Aix: Bakircilar 3, Drahe 1, Dunstan 1, Beteille 1,
Jadran HN – Sabac 5:9 (0:3, 2:3, 2:1, 1:2)
Jadran HN: Zizudin 2, Da. Radovic 2, Muscat 1.
Sabac: Stojanovic 2, Shakhutdinov 2, Barac 1, Toholj 1,Repanovic 1, Krug 1, Sulc 1.
Solaris bye
Before the fourth competition day, none of the teams had qualified for the eighth finals. Trieste, Sabac, and Jadran were in a race for the top two spots.
As expected, Trieste beat Pays d’Aix in the first match of the day and booked the ticket for the Round of 16.
The encounter between Sabac and Jadran decided who would join the Italians. Sabac needed a point in this match to qualify and keep 1st place. Shortly after the first whistle, it was more-less clear that qualifying for the eighth finals would be a mission impossible for Jadran. After a 3:0 first period, Sabac went to 4:0. Midway through the second period, the hosts stretched the margin to five (6:1). Jadran didn’t surrender and reduced the gap to three goals twice (4:7 and 5:8). Still, Sabac’s victory wasn’t in danger. The hosts finished the tournament with a perfect 4 – 0 record.
1.Sabac (SRB) 4 – 12
2.Trieste (ITA) 4 – 9
3. Jadran HN (MNE) 4 – 6
4. Solaris (CRO) 4 – 3
5. Pays d’Aix (FRA) 4 – 0
Group B (Strasbourg), Round 3
Savona – De Zaan 14:10 (5:2, 5:4, 2:2, 2:2)
Savona: Rizzo 4, Urbinati 3, Guidi 2, Bruni 1, Campopiano 1, Djurdjic 1, Lanzoni 1, Patchaliev 1.
ZV De Zaan: Corver 3, Janssen 3, J.Van der Struijk 1, C.Van Der Struijk 1,Brantjes 1, Meijn 1.
Strasbourg – Partizan 9:12 (1:2, 1:2, 2:5, 5:3)
Strasbourg: Buha 2, Denux 2, Petkovic 2, Popadic 1, Misic 1, I.Zivkovic 1.
Partizan: Trtovic 3, Dimitrijevic 2, Jaukovic 2, Smiljevic 2, Krstic 1, Milos 1, Gladovic 1.
Three teams had chances to reach the eighth-finals before the last round of the group in Strasbourg (Savona, Strasbourg, Partizan). Just as in the group in Sabac, an Italian team had the easiest task. Savona faced the bottom-placed ZV De Zaan. The Italians made no mistake. They beat the Dutch and won 1st place in the group.
Host Strasbourg and Partizan battled for the second ticket for Round of 16. Strasbourg had a slight advantage before the match. If the French had won a point today, they would have finished 2nd in the group.
But, a young team of Partizan proved its potential. The Serbs’ win over an experienced home team was a little bit surprising, but Partizan deserved the victory.
Strasbourg scored the first goal in the game. Still, it turned out that it was the hosts’ only lead in the game. Partizan responded with three goals, earned a 3:1 lead, and didn’t let the French equalize. Strasbourg put a lot of effort into a comeback. Early in the third period, it came very close (3:4), but Partizan scored four goals in four minutes and built a solid 8:3 lead (22nd minute). However, the battle wasn’t over yet. Strasbourg started climbing back and reduced the gap to one goal again – 8:9 with 05:12 minutes remaining on the clock, and everything was still open. But, midway through the fourth period, Partizan netted two goals within 48 seconds and earned an 11:8 advantage. In the remaining time, both sides scored a goal apiece and Partizan went to the eighth-finals.
1.Savona (ITA) 3 – 7
2. Partizan (SRB) 3 – 6
3. Strasbourg (FRA) 3 – 4
4. ZV De Zaan (NED) 3 – 0
Group C (Duisburg), Round 3
Telimar – Barcelona 11:12 (2:3, 4:2, 2:3, 3:4)
Telimar: Irving 4, Hooper 3, Lo Casco 2, Pericas 1, Del Basso 1.
Barcelona: Ramon 2, Goma 2, Mallarach 2, Valls 2, Asensio 1, Frigola 1, Cupido 1 Vavic 1.
Tourcoing – Duisburg 21:11 (5:1, 6:2, 4:6, 6:2)
Tourcoing: Durik 4, D.Zivkovic 4, Krizman 4, Marzouki 3, Dasic 2, M.Brguljan 1, Gagulic 1, Canonne 1, Kujacic 1.
ASC Duisburg: Eidner 4, Tanaskovic 3, Simic 2, Seifert 1, Gusakov 1.
Telimar Palermo, the finalists of the last season’s LEN Euro Cup, won’t play in the Round of 16 this season. Barcelona beat the Italians after a hard-fought battle. It secured itself a spot in the eighth-finals, where it joined Tourcoing, which cemented 1st place in the group yesterday.
The game was a neck-and-neck race. The first period belonged to Barcelona, but Telimar was in front for most of the following two quarters. Early in the third period, Telimar built a 2-goal lead (7:5), but Barcelona leveled at 8:8 before the final quarter. The Sicilians took the lead twice in the opening minutes of the fourth period (9:8, 10:9). Still, Barcelona retook control. The Spaniards produced a 3:0 run in less than two minutes and earned a 2-goal advantage (12:10). Telimar halved the deficit with 79 seconds left on the clock (11:12), but it couldn’t go further and finished its European campaign for this season.
Tourcoing confirmed 1st place with a victory over Duisburg.
1.Tourcoing (FRA) 3 – 9
2.Barcelona (ESP) 3 – 6
3. Telimar (ITA) 3 – 3
4. ASC Duisburg (GER) 3 – 0
Group D (Zagreb), Round 5
PAOK – Primorac 7:13 (0:3, 1:1, 2:5, 4:4)
PAOK: Prosiniklis 2, Milradovic 1, Tsolakoudis 1, Koopman 1, Kougiounis 1, Laskaridis 1.
Primorac: Mrsic 5, Draskovic 2, F.Gardasevic 2, Stanojevic 2, Gopcevic 1, Milic 1.
Mladost – Honved 12:11 (4:4, 4:2, 2:3, 2:2)
HAVK Mladost: Rakovac 4, Elez 3, Jelaca 3, Dadvani 1, Mijic 1.
Honved: B.Ekler 4, Zs.Ekler 2, A.Manhercz 1, Hosnyanszky 1, B.Hessels 1, Simon 1, Nyiri 1.
Mediterrani bye
The opening match of the day was a duel between the teams that targeted 2nd place in the group.
PAOK needed a point to qualify for the eighth finals, while the duel was a must-win match for Primorac.
The Montenegrins killed all the suspense quickly and opened the game with a 4:0 blast. Their defense was perfect in the first half. PAOK scored its first goal only in the 14th minute. Early in the third period, the Greeks reduced the gap to two (2:4), but Primorac’s advantage wasn’t in danger. The Kotor-based side built a huge 6-goal lead (9:3) before the final break and maintained the difference until the end.
Neither Mladost nor Honved had pressure in the last match of the tournament. Honved secured 1st place yesterday, while Mladost lost all chances to qualify for the eight-finals before the last game. The match was interesting, and Mladost recorded a consolation win thanks to a last-gasp goal. Mijic set the final score just seven seconds before the final buzzer.
1.Honved (HUN) 4 – 9
2. Primorac (MNE) 4 – 6
3. Mediterrani (ESP) 4 – 5
4. PAOK (GRE) 4 – 4
5. Mladost (CRO) 4 – 4
Group E (Szolnok), Round 3
Montpellier – EVK Zaibas 13:8 (1:3, 4:3, 3:1, 5:1)
Montpellier: Ivanovic 6, Dory 3, Mustur 2, Kalinic 2.
EVK Zaibas: Bakulo 2, Lobov 2, Galinok 1, Vitkauskas 1, Gostautas 1.
Szolnok – Crvena Zvezda 10:6 (3:2, 2:1, 1:0, 4:3)
Szolnok: Pasztor 4, Szeghalmi 2, Schmolcz 1, D.Jansik 1, Ger.Kovacs 1, Vismeg 1
Crvena Zvezda: Seman 2, Tankosic 1, B.Banicevic 1, Milojevic 1, Vasic 1.
The only open question before the last matches in Szolnok was – Who will finish atop? Szolnok and Crvena Zvezda qualified for the Round of 16 yesterday, and they battled for 1st place today.
The middle two quarters were crucial for the outcome. In the 10th minute, the score was 3:3. Then, Szolnok tightened its defense, it scored three goals in a row and entered the final period with a 6:3 advantage. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Szolnok went to 7:3 and kept a 4-goal distance until the end.
1.Szolnok (HUN) 3 – 9
2.Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 3 – 6
3. Montpellier (FRA) 3 – 3
4. EVK Zaibas (LTU) 3 – 0
Group F (Bucharest), Round 5
BVSC – Valis 18:8 (5:1, 4:1, 4:3, 5:3)
BVSC: Csapo 5, Sziladi 4, Nagy 2, Gal 2, M.Meszaros 2, Tatrai 1, Gyarfas 1, Szabo 1.
Valis: Sofranac 3, Obradovic 1, Radanovic 1, Baucalo 1, Almasi 1, Mitrovic 1.
Steaua – Vitoria 14:5 (3:1, 5:1, 3:1, 3:2)
Steaua Bucharest: Georgescu 4, Moskov 3, Iudean 2, Tepellus 2, Vuskovic 1, Oanta 1, Armean 1.
Vitoria Guimaraes: Ferreira 3, Lopes 2.
Ortigia bye
The games of the last day in Bucharest were just for pride. After yesterday’s fourth round, Ortigia secured 1st and Steaua 2nd place. Today, the hosts played relaxed against Vitoria, but recorded a big win. BVSC was better than Valis and finished 3rd.
1.Ortigia (ITA) 4 – 12
2. Steaua Bucharest (ROM) 4 – 9
3. BVSC (HUN) 4 – 6
4. Valis (SRB) 4 – 3
5. Vitoria Guimaraes (POR) 4 – 0
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