There were no surprises in the quarterfinals of the Serbian Cup
Radnicki, Novi Beograd, Partizan and Crvena Zvezda qualified for the Final Four that will take place in Belgrade on January 28 and 29.
The same four teams participated in the F4 in the last season. Radnicki won the trophy last year, Novi Beograd finished 2nd, while Crvena Zvezda and Partizan were stopped in the semifinals.
Radnicki had the toughest test in the quarterfinals this weekend. The 2022 winner beat Sabac.
2022/23 Serbian Cup, quarterfinals
Radnicki – Sabac 12:9 (3:2, 5:2, 2:2, 2:3)
Radnicki: Stanojevic 3, Ukropina 2, Brankovic 1, Jankovic 1, Cuk 1, Vico 1, Pljevancic 1, Radulovic 1, Lukic 1
Sabac: Sulc 3, Tubic 2, Barac 2, Stojanovic 1, Shakudinov 1.
Crvena Zvezda – Vojvodina 13:8 (3:1, 2:2, 3:1, 5:4)
Crvena Zvezda: Tankosic 2, Subotic 2, Vasic 2, Basara 2, Vukicevic 2, Radovic 2, Seman 1.
Vojvodina: Prekogacic 2, Gould 2, Maric 1, Blazevic 1, Radovanlija 1, Biocanin 1.
Novi Beograd – Valis 22:6 (4:1, 5:0, 5:1, 8:4)
Novi Beograd: Mandic 3, Drasovic 3, Martinovic 3, Skoumpakis 3, V.Rasovic 3, S.Rasovic 2, Granados 2, Vucinic 2, Cetkovic 1.
Valis: Bursac 4, Kovacevic 1, Nikolov 1.
Partizan – Proleter 18:6 (7:2, 4:2, 5:1, 2:1),
Partizan: Gladovic 4, Paparic 4, Trtovic 3, Giga 3, Milos 3, Dimitrijevic 1.
Proleter: Matkovic 3, Ilic 1, Mitrovic 1, Konatar 1.
An encounter between the Champions League club Radnicki and Sabac, the club that will play in the LEN Euro Cup quarterfinals, was the derby of this round. A month ago, Radnicki ran over Sabac (11:2) in the Serbian League. However, that result doesn’t mirror a difference in quality between these teams. Sabac. The clash in the Cup offered more excitement. Sabac was never in front, but it leveled the score twice in the first half (2:2, 4:4). Still, after the visitors’ fourth goal, Radnicki produced a 4:0 run and went into the second half with an 8:4 lead. Sabac played well. However, the visitors couldn’t endanger the hosts’ win, but they reduced the gap to three (9:12).
Radnicki and Sabac will meet again next week at the Regional League tournament in Sabac.
Crvena Zvezda advanced to the Final Four, beating Vojvodina (13:8). The Novi Sad-based team kept up with the hosts until the middle of the second quarter. The visitors trailed by a goal (3:4). But, then Crvena Zvezda tightened its defense, and scored four goals in a row. Slovakia’s captain Lucas Seman closed that series by scoring a nice backhander for 8:3 (22nd minute). Crvena Zvezda kept a five-goal distance until the end. The Red Whites were guided by a new head coach Aleksandar Filipovic, who replaced Dejan Savic a few days ago.
Novi Beograd secured a spot at the Final Four with a commanding 22:6 victory over Valis. Novi Beograd played without Jaksic, Perkovic and Vlachopoulos. Nikola Nikolov, who arrived at Valis from Miskolc in the winter transfer window, debuted for the Valjevo-based club scoring one goal.
Partizan proved too strong for Proleter. The Black Whites netted seven goals already in the first quarter and showed they were a far better team.
