The second phase of the Italian Championship has started today. Three matches in the groups for the title (places 1-8) were played.
Three teams that will compete in the Champions League next week – Pro Recco, Ortigia, and Brescia- opened the second phase with home wins.
Foreign players, who took part in an 8-day Olympic Games Qualification Tournament, that was ended in Rotterdam on Sunday, joined their clubs and played today – Montenegrins Aleksandar Ivovic (Pro Recco) and Stefan Vidovic (Ortigia), Croats Marko Bijac (Pro Recco), Maro Jokovic (Brescia), Greek Angelos Vlachopoulos (Brescia), Georgia’s Marko Elez (Salerno) and Fabio Baraldi (Posillipo).
2020/21 Italian League
Groups for the title, Day 1
Group E
Pro Recco – Posillipo 21:4 (3:0, 3:2, 7:0, 7:2)
Pro Recco: Di Fulvio 4, Mandic 3, Velotto 3, Echenique 3, Ivovic 3, Younger 2, N. Presciutti 1, G.Rossi 1, S.Luongo 1.
Posillipo: Saccoia 2, Silvestri 1, Baraldi 1.
Trieste – Telimar on March 3
The encounters between two former European champions, Pro Recco and Posillipo, haven’t been derbies for a long time. Pro Recco again ran over Posillipo.
All four foreigners were on Recco’s roster for today’s match – Ivovic, Mandic, Bijac, and Younger. Dusan Mandic played his first match after recovering from coronavirus and netted three goals. Bijac was in front of in the first two quarters. Then he was replaced by Tomasso Negri who arrived at Recco last summer, from Posillipo.
Francesco Di Fulvio was the best scorer with four goals. Only Pietro Figlioli and Matteo Aicardi didn’t get on the scoreboard today.
Standings: 1. Pro Recco 3, 2.Posillipo 0, Trieste -, Telimar -.
Group F
Ortigia – Salerno 13:5 (5:1, 1:0, 5:2, 2:2)
Ortigia: Giacoppo 5, Mirarchi 3,Gallo 2, Condemi 2, Rocchi 1.
Salerno: Pica 2, M.Luongo 1, Galozzi 1, Cuccovillo 1.
Brescia – Savona 11:7 (2:0, 2:2, 2:3, 5:2)
Brescia: Vlachopoulos 3, Jokovic 2, Canella 2, Di Somma 2, Dolce 1, Alesiani 1.
Savona: Vuskovic 3, Rizzo 2, Bruni 1, Fondelli 1.
Ortigia recorded a comfortable victory over Salerno. The Sicilians dominated the first quarter, they scored just one goal in the second period. But, they opened the third period with three goals in a row to jump to a 9:1 lead and there was no way back for Salerno.
Brescia needed a lot of time to secure the win over Savona. The hosts started very well and earned a 3:0 lead early in the third quarter. But, Savona started coming back. The visitors equalized (4:4) in the 20th minute. Brescia regained a 2-goal lead (6:4), but Bruni converted a man-up 18 seconds before the last break and reduced the gap to one goal (5:6). The home side scored three unanswered goals by the middle of the fourth quarter and built a 4-goal advantage (9:5). After that, Brescia kept the distance until the end.
Standings: 1. Ortigia 3, 2. Brescia 3, 3. Savona 0, 4. Salerno 0.
Relegation group, Day 1
February 27
Iren Quinto – Metanopoli 11:8 (1:1, 3:4, 3:1, 4:2)
Iren Quinto: M.Gitto 3, Nora 2, Inaba 2, Panerai 1, Mugnaini 1, Brambilla 1, Guidi 1.
Metanopoli: Ravina 2, Baldineti 1, A.Brambilla 1, L.Bianco 1, A. Di Somma 1,Lanzoni 1, Monari 1.
Florentia – Lazio postponed due to the coronavirus cases at Lazio
Roma bye
More news about the Italian water polo league
