Two weeks after beating reigning champion Strasbourg, water polo players of EN Torucoing produced a new surprise. In the 8th round of the French championship, Tourcoing edged out league-leader Pays d’Aix 11:10!

French Elite League 2019/20, Round 8

Tourcoing – Pays d’Aix 11:10 (1:2, 6:4, 4:2, 0:2)

EN Tourcoing : Kujacic 4, Nispeling 2, Krisman 2, Randjic 2, Papapostolou 1.
Pays d’Aix : Tkac 2, Gagulic 2, Monneret 2, Gluhaic 2, Saux 1, Khasz 1.

Nice – Sete Natation 10:10 (3:3, 3:3, 2:2, 2:2)

Nice : Caumette 4, Butic 2, Cakic 2, Bosazzi 1, Bachelier 1.
Sete : Rustamov 3, Furman 3, Do Carmo 2, Lopinot 1, Mantion 1.

Noisy-le-Sec – Montpellier WP 8:5 (2:1, 2:0, 3:2, 1:2)

Noisy : Bjorch 3 , Pesteric 2, Sterling 1, Peisson 1, Petkovic 1.
Montpellier : Ivankovic 3, Kalinic 1, D. Zivkovic 1

Reims – Strasbourg 8:11 (0:5, 3:1, 3:3, 2:2)

Reims : Balaz 3, Missy 2, Lambert 1, Andelic 1, Bielik 1.
Strasbourg : Markovic 3, Buden 2, Babic 2, Letica 1, Denux 1, Bratic 1, Begovic 1.

Marseille – Douai 17 :8 (8:4, 4:1, 3:1, 2:2)

Marseille : Vanpeperstraete 3, Vernoux 3, Olivon 2, Crousillat 2, Durdic 2, Kovacevic 2, Vukicevic 1, Izdinsky 1, Marion-Vernoux 1.
Douai : Spooner 2, Muller 2, Canonne 2, Vitrant 1,Lepoint 1.

Tourcoing secured the points in the middle of the match against Pays d’Aix. The visitors started pretty well. Pays led 5:3 in the 13th minute. But, Tourcoing responded with three goals in a row to earn a 6:5 advantage. Aix equalized 38 seconds from the end of this quarter. Just 17 seconds later, Tourcoing’s Greek Christos Papaostolou found the net, and his team went in front again – 7:6.

After the middle break, the hosts continued their series and jumped to a 9:6 advantage in the 2nd minute of the third quarter. That 3:0 series proved vital for their win, as Pays d’Aix couldn’t catch them in the remaining time. In the middle of the third quarter, the visitors reduced the gap to 1 (8:9). Still, Tourcoing, led by Drazen Kujacic, built a new 3-goal advantage before the end of the third (11:8). Pays managed to come close to the rival (10:11) with 01:27 to go, but Tourcoing kept the slim advantage for a significant 11:10 win.

Pays d’Aix suffered the first defeat in the national league after almost eight months. They lost to Marseille in the playoff semifinals (10:13) on 11 May. Between that game and the match with Tourcoing, the leader recorded eight wins and one draw.

Marseille trashed Douai – 17:8.

Reigning champion Strasbourg defeated Reims 11:8, thanks to an excellent start. After less than 6 minutes of play, Strasbourg was leading 5:0. After that, they slowed down, but their victory wasn’t in danger.

Noisy-le-Sec prevailed Montpellier 8:5.

Last-placed Sete earned its first point in the season, with a 10:10 draw in the match against Nice. Sete, the visiting team in this match, could celebrate a win, as it led 10:9 in the last minute of the game. However, Nice saved a point, by a goal scored 38 seconds from the end.

1 Pays d’Aix 8 – 19
2 Marseille 7 – 18
3 Tourcoing 8 – 15
4 Noisy-le-Sec 8 – 15
5 Strasbourg 8 – 12
6 Montpellier 6 – 10
7 Nice 7 – 10
8 Reims 8 – 9
9 Douai 8 – 3
10 Sete 8 – 1