A busy weekend in the LEN competitions finished today with the last 11 games of the LEN Euro Cup Round 1, played today.
Already yesterday, the list of the clubs that would qualify for the next round was almost complete. Only one question was open – which teams will finish 3rd and 4th in Group B in Syracuse? But, there were no surprises in Sicily. Szolnok demolished Ydraikos (16:3) and cemented 3rd place, ahead of Pays d’Aix, which also advanced to Round 2.
Five countries entered three clubs each in the LEN Euro Cup (Italy, Greece, Spain, Serbia, Hungary, and France). All Italian, Serbian, French and Hungarian clubs advanced to the second round, while only one Spanish and one Greek team made the cut.
Three teams had a perfect record in this stage– Ortigia in Group B, Strasbourg in Group C and Crvena Zvezda in Group D. Besides them, Solaris, the winner of Group A and the only Croatian club in this stage, remained unbeaten, but the Sibenik-based team finished the tournament with four wins and one draw.
Teams qualified for Round 2: Ortigia, Trieste, Telimar (all Italy), Crvena Zvezda, Partizan,Valis (all Serbia), Strasbourg, Montpellier, Pays d’Aix (all France), Honved, BVSC, Szolnok (all Hungary), Solaris (Croatia), Mediterrani (Spain), ZV De Zaan (Netherlands), PAOK (Greece).
Besides these 16 teams, the clubs that failed to qualify from Round 2 to Round 3 of the Champions League qualifications will play in the LEN Euro Cup Round 2: Savona (Italy), Sabac (Serbia), Steaua (Romania), Jadran HN (Montenegro), Barcelona (Spain), Vitoria (Portugal), Tourcoing (France), Primorac (Montenegro), Mladost (Croatia), EVK Zaibas (Lithuania) and ASC Duisburg (Germany).
The 27 clubs will be split into six groups in the Euro Cup Round 2,
Day 4, results – Group A (Thessaloniki): Ludwigsburg – Echeyde 15:13, ZV De Zaan – Montpellier 10:10, PAOK – Solaris 9:9. Group B (Syracuse): Ydraikos – Szolnok 3:16, Ortigia – Pays d’Aix 12:5. Group C (Kranj): Honved – Valis 11:6, Triglav – Telimar 8:23, Terrassa – Strasbourg 11:14. Group D (Barcelona): Trieste – BVSC 10:7, Apollon – Kosice 34:6, Crvena Zvezda – Mediterrani 13:3.
The clubs that finished 4th and 5th in their groups go to the LEN Challenger cup.
2022/23 LEN Euro Cup, Round 1, Day 4 (5th round in each group)
Group A (Thessaloniki)
ZV De Zaan – Montpellier 10:10 (3:3, 1:3, 4:2, 2:2)
ZV De Zaan:Corver 3, Lucas 3, Rempt 1, Struijk Van Der 1, Brantjes 1.
Montpellier: Ivankovic 2, Spillaert 2, Piot 1, Dory 1, Mustur 1, Kalinic 1, Ben monhdane 1, Degaille 1.
Ludwigsburg – Echeyde 15:13 (4:1, 2:6, 5:3, 4:3)
Ludwigsburg 08:Prieto 6, Blazevic 5, Kutchashvili 1, Manic 1, Lipar 1, Skilic 1.
Echeyde Tenerife: Salvador 4, Alegre 3, Magrina 2, Keuning 2, Espanol 2.
PAOK – Solaris 9:9 (2:2, 3:4, 1:0, 3:3)
PAOK: Milradovic 3, Kechalaris 2, Prosiniklis 1, Tsolakoudis 1, Charalampopoulos 1, Koopman 1.
Solaris: Penava 3, D.Butic 2, Burburan 2, Erak 1, T.Sparada 1.
Two games between the top four teams ended with no winner.
Solaris remained unbeaten after an interesting game with PAOK. The Croats had a 2-goal lead in the second period (5:3, 6:4), but PAOK took control after the middle break. The Greeks were in front for most of the fourth period (7:6, 8:7, 9:8). Burburan scored an equalizer in the 31st minute for the final score. However, even if they had lost, the Croats would have finished in 1stplace.
ZV De Zaan and Montpellier shared the points, too, so the Dutch kept 2nd place, and Montpellier finished 4th.
Ludwigsburg recorded a consolation win over Echeyde.
1.Solais (CRO) 5 – 13
2.ZV De Zaan (NED) 5 – 10
3. PAOK (GRE) 5 – 10
4. Montpellier (FRA) 5 – 7
5. Ludwigsburg (GER) 5 – 3
6. Echeyde (ESP) 5 – 0
Group B (Syracuse)
Ydraikos – Szolnok 3:16 (1:5, 1:1, 1:4, 0:6)
Ydraikos:Suzuki 1, Blanis 1, Rompopoulos 1.
Szolnok: Schmolcz 4, Vamosi 3, Szeghalmi 2, D.Jansik 2, M.Pasztor 2, Belenyesi 1, Peto 1, Ger.Kovacs 1.
Ortigia – Pays d’Aix 12:5 (1:1, 1:0, 7:2, 3:2)
Ortigia: F.Condemi 3, Napolitano 2, Ferrero 2, Giribaldi 1, Carnesecchi 1, A.Condemi 1, Gorria Puga 1,Vidovic 1.
Pays d’Aix: L.Beteille 1, Peisson 1, Bakircilar 1, Rocchietta 1, Vrdoljak 1.
Partizan bye
The most crucial game of the last day was an encounter between Ydraikos and Szolnok. But, Ydraikos had slim chances. The Greeks needed an 8-goal win to advance to 2nd round. However, Szolnok didn’t let them dream of surprise. The Hungarians ran over Ydriakos, and after the Hungarians’ 16:3 win, it was clear that Szolnok and Pays d’Aix secured themselves spots in the next round and joined Ortigia and Partizan.
Ortigia started slowly against Pays d’Aix, but it dominated in the third quarter and kept a perfect record – four wins in as many games.
1.Ortigia (ITA) 4 – 12
2.Partizan (SRB)4 – 9
3.Szolnok (HUN) 4 – 6
4. Pays d’Aix (FRA) 4 – 3
5. Ydraikos (GRE) 4 – 0
Group C (Kranj)
Terrassa – Strasbourg 11:14 (1:3, 4:3, 4:4, 2:4)
Terrassa: Flores 3, Delgado 3, Alarcon 2,Wilson 1, Rodriguez 1, Chico 1.
Strasbourg: Vitrant 4, Buha 3, Bachelier 2, Petkovic 2, Canovas 1, Popadic 1, Misic 1.
Honved – Valis 11:6 (3:0, 2:1, 3:2, 3:3)
Honved: Hosnyanszky 2, B.Hessels 2, Sugar 2, Kevi 1, S.Hessels 1, B.Ekler 1, Fejos 1, Z.Ekler 1.
Valis: Obradovic 3, Bursac 1, Kovacevic 1, Andjelic 1.
Triglav – Telimar 8:23 (1:5, 2:4, 1:7, 4:7)
Triglav: Paunovic 5, Gostic 1, Rajlic 1, Cerar 1.
Telimar: Giorgetti 7, Irving 6, Gilberti 4, Del Basso 3, Hooper 1, Lo Cascio 1, Lo Dico 1.
Strasburg recorded the fifth win in Kranj, but Terrassa fought hard, although it lost all chances to reach 4th place before the last match. The French were always almost in front. the Spaniards leveled only twice (1:1 and 6:6), but they kept with the group winner until the very end. Three minutes before the end, they came close for the last time (11:12). But, Strasbourg didn’t let them go further, scoring two goals at the finish for a 14:11 victory.
Telimar played in the same way as in the previous matches in Kranj – the attack was much more important to the Italians than the defense. Telimar cruised to a big win and won 3rd place, scoring even 89 goals in five matches (their goal difference was 89:67).
Honved had no big problems in beating Valis. The Hungarian’s 4:0 lead in the 9th minute set the tone of the match.
1. Strasbourg (FRA) 5 – 15
2. Honved (HUN) 5 – 12
3. Telimar (ITA) 5 – 9
4. Valis (SRB) 5 – 6
5. Terrassa (ESP) 5 – 3
6. Triglav (SVN) 5 – 0
Group D (Barcelona)
Trieste – BVSC Zuglo 10:7 (1:1, 4:1, 1:2, 4:3)
Trieste: Podgornik 2, Buljubasic 2, Mezzarobba 2, Petronio 1, Razzi 1, Bini 1, Mladossich 1.
BVSC Zuglo: M.Nagy 2, Gyarfas 2, M.Meszaros 1, Gal 1, Batizi 1.
Crvena Zvezda – Mediterrani 13:3 (2:0, 4:1, 4:1, 3:1)
Crvena Zvezda:Subotic 4, Basara 2, Radovic 2, Vasic 1, Vukicevic 1, Seman 1, Milojevic 1, Gajic 1.
Mediterrani: Prat 1, Corres 1, Roca 1.
Apollon – Kosice 34:6 (10:1, 8:1, 9:3,7:1)
Apollon Smyrnis:Bogdanovic 8, Vickovic 6, gardikas 4, Goniotakis Kordreras 3, Tourkomenis 3, Myrilos 2, Solanakis 2, Alamanos 1, Braimis 1.
SKP Kosice: Motyl 2, Muzhychuk 1, Afanasev 1, Juhasz 1, Bodnar 1.
An encounter between Trieste and BVSC was a duel between the teams that were targeting 2nd place. Trieste had a 3-goal advantage at halftime. Still, the Hungarians came back and cut the deficit to one goal in the 26th minute (5:6). But, Trieste netted three straight goals after that and earned a safe 9:6 advantage.
Crvena Zvezda demolished host Mediterrani and finished the tournament collecting all 12 points. The result says all. At halftime, Crvena Zvezda led 6:1, but it didn’t slow after the middle break and doubled its advantage in the second half of the match.
Apollon disappointed at the tournament in Barcelona, so a convincing win over underdog Kosice didn’t help the Greeks to reach Round 2. Both teams will continue the season in the LEN Challenger Cup.
1.Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 5 – 15
2. Trieste (ITA) 5 – 12
3. BVSC (HUN) 5 – 9
4. Mediterrani (ESP) 5 – 6
5. Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) 5 – 3
6. SKP Kosice (SVK) 5 – 0
