The games of the national cups have been played in Croatia and Serbia this weekend.
Eleven Croatian clubs (the members of the A1 League) were split into two groups (Split and Zagreb). The top two teams qualified for the semifinals (Final Four). Mladost Zagreb, Jadran Split, Jug Dubrovnik, and Primorje Rijeka advanced to the last four.
The battle for 2nd place in Group B (Dubrovnik), between Primorje and Solaris, was very exciting. In the end, the goal-difference was decisive.
The National Cup eight-finals and one league match have been on the schedule in Serbia this weekend.
2020/21 Croatian Cup, qualifications
Group A (Zagreb)
Round 1
Mladost – Medvescak 17:4 (3:1, 6:3, 5:0, 3:0)
Jadran S – POSK 17:2 (5:0, 3:0, 5:1, 4:1)
Round 2
Medvescak – Jadran S 11:22 (3:7, 2:5, 2:7, 4:3)
Mornar – Mladost 4:21 (1:4, 0:3, 3:6, 0:8)
Round 3
Jadran S – Mornar 13:5 (6:2, 1:2, 2:0, 4:1)
POSK – Medvescak 9:13 (3:4, 2:2, 1:4, 3:3)
Round 4
Mladost – Jadran S 12:10 (5:0, 3:4,2:4, 2:2)
Mornar – POSK 10:5 (1:1, 5:2, 2:1, 2:1)
Round 5
POSK – Mladost 6:15 (0:3, 1:4, 3:3, 2:5)
Medvescak – Mornar 6:14 (0:1, 1:4, 1:6, 4:3)
As expected, Mladost (the 2020 Croatian Cup winner) and Jadran Split, the clubs which will play in the LEN Euro Cup next week, secured top two places in the group in Zagreb.
An encounter between these two teams, that was decisive for 1st place, was on the schedule of Day 4. After the first quarter, it seemed that Mladost would earn points with ease. The hosts led 5:0 in the first eight minutes. They even built a 6:0 lead early in the second quarter. But, Jadran managed to come back. Jadran trailed 8:10 before the final quarter. An experienced Andjelo Setka scored two goals for Jadran (penalty shot and counter-attack) in the first two minutes of the fourth period to level the score – 10:10. Still, Mladost kept the Split-based side goalless in the remaining time, while it scored two goals for a 12:10 win. Josip Vrlic scored four goals for Mladost. The hosts’ captain and goalkeeper Ivan Marcelic also did a good job (14 saves). The top scorer of the match was Jadran’s Nikola Milradovic (5 goals).
1 HAVK Mladost 4 – 12
2 Jadran S 4 – 9
3 Mornar 4 – 6
4 Medvescak 4 – 3
5 POSK 4 – 0
Group B (Dubrovnik)
Round 1
Primorje – Galeb 25:4 (4:1, 7:1, 8:1, 6:1)
Jug – KPK Korcula 21:4 ( 4:0, 5:3, 6:0, 6:1)
Solaris – Zadar 1952 27:6 (6:1, 7:1, 7:2, 7:2)
Round 2
KPK – Galeb 18:6 (6:1, 5:2, 4:3, 3:0)
Jug – Solaris 16:7 (4:2, 4:0, 3:1, 5:4)
Zadar 1952 – Primorje 3:17 (0:4, 2:3, 0:4, 1:6)
Round 3
Primorje – KPK 19:7 (1:2, 7:0, 7:1, 4:4)
Galeb – Solaris 6:10 (1:2, 3:1, 0:2, 2:5)
Jug – Zadar 1952 22:3 (2:6, 0:4, 0:8, 1:4)
Round 4
KPK – Zadar 15:7 (2:1, 7:2, 3:3, 3:1)
Jug – Galeb 23:8 (7:2, 5:1, 5:2, 6:3)
Solaris – Primorje 7:7 (2:2, 0:1, 3:2, 2:2)
Round 5
Galeb – Zadar 1952 12:8 (5:3, 2:1, 2:1, 3:3)
Primorje – Jug 4:13 (0:4, 0:3, 1:4, 3:2)
Solaris – KPK 21:1 (2:0, 7:0, 3:0, 9:1)
Jug cruised to five wins in the group played in Dubrovnik. The home team recorded five convincing victories. Jug coach Vjekoslav Kobescak gave many young players opportunities, and most of them proved their talent.
Primorje and Solaris fought a battle for the second F4 berth. The match Primorje – Solaris was the highlight of the tournament. After a hard-fought battle, the game ended with no winner. Before the fourth quarter, the rivals were tied (5:5). Roko Pelcaric, the man of the match (scored six goals), found the net twice in the opening minutes of the fourth period to give Solaris a 7:5 advantage. But, Primorje responded with two quick goals by the middle of the quarter for 7:7. There were no goals in the last four minutes.
After the derby in the fourth round, Primorje had 10, and Solaris 7 points. Primorje had a + 47 goal difference, while Solaris was at + 16.
In the second match of the fifth round, Primorje lost to Jug 4:13. That meant that Solaris needed a 22-goal victory over KPK in the last game of the tournament to reach second place. Solaris water polo players, led by Pelcaric (10 goals), came very close to the 2nd position, but they recorded “only” a 21:1 win.
1 Jug 5 – 15
2 Primorje 5 – 10 (+38)
3 Solaris 5 – 10 (+36)
4 KPK 5 – 6
5 Galeb 5 – 3
6 Zadar 1952 5 – 0
The Final Four will be held on January 24 and 25. Semifinals: Jug – Jadran, Mladost – Primorje.
2020/21 Serbian Cup, 1/8finals
Novi Beograd 011 – Valis 28:4 (5:1, 9:0, 10:1, 4:2)
Valjevo – Nais 4:10 (1:3, 0:3, 2:2, 1:2)
NBG Vukovi – Vojvodina 10:15 (3:4, 0:4, 5:4, 2:3)
Stari Grad – Banjica16:11 (3:3, 5:3, 5:2, 3:3)
There were no exciting matches in the eight-finals of the Serbian Cup. The four teams that won the first four places in the last season’s Cup (Radnicki, Sabac, Crvena Zvezda, Partizan) didn’t play in this stage. They are directly qualified for the quarterfinals.
Novi Beograd 011 ran over Valis 28:4. Drasko Gogov, a former Trieste player, netted seven goals. Nais beat Valjevo. Vojvodina was better than NBG Vukovi (“Wolves”), which is the 2nd team of Novi Beograd 011. Stari Grad defeated Banjica for its first win in the season.
The draw for the quarterfinals will be held next week.
2020/21 Serbian League
Day 5
Radnicki – Partizan 22:5 (5:1, 7:3, 5:0, 5:1)
Radnicki Kragujevac extended its winning streak with a convincing win over Partizan in the postponed game of the 5th round, Radnicki taught a young team of Partizan a water polo lesson. Strahinja Rasovic was the best scorer of the match. He netted five goals, same as all Partizan players together. Last week, Radnicki convincingly beat the other Belgrade-based team, Crvena Zvezda (16:5).
1 Radnicki 7 – 18
2 Novi Beograd 6 – 16
3 Sabac 6 – 15
4 Crvena Zvezda 6 – 13
5 Vojvodina 7 – 12
6 Partizan 7 – 9
7 Zemun 6 – 7
8 Nais 7 – 7
9 Stari Grad 7 – 0
10 Banjica 7 – 0
More news about the national water polo competitions in Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro
