There are not many open questions before tomorrow’s last matches in the Euro Cup Round 1.
Fourteen teams have already secured their spots in Round 2. Only two tickets are still available.
Italy and Serbia will have three clubs each in the next round, for sure. Two clubs from Spain and Hungary have advanced so far, and one from Croatia, Spain, Greece, and the Netherlands.
Day 3, evening session – Group A (Thessaloniki): Echeyde – Solaris 8:15 , ZV De Zaan – Ludwigsburg 16:7, PAOK – Montpellier 13:8, Group B (Syracuse): Szolnok – Ortigia 9:11, Ydriakos – Partizan 12:14. Group C (Kranj): Valis – Strasbourg 10:13, Triglav – Honved 3:21, Telimar – Terrassa 18:15.Group D (Barcelona): Apollon – Crvena Zvezda 8:10 Trieste – Kosice 29:10, Mediterrani – BVSC 13:14.
The top four teams from each group will go to Round 2.
Teams qualified before the last match: Ortigia, Trieste, Telimar (all Italy), Crvena Zvezda, Partizan,Valis (all Serbia), Strasbourg, Montpellier (both France), Honved, BVSC (both Hungary), Solaris (Croatia), Mediterrani (Spain), ZV De Zaan (Netherlands), PAOK (Greece).
The only two available tickets will be allocated after the matches in the group in Syracuse. It’s most likely that Szolnok will remain in 3rd and Pays d’Aix in 4th place. Ydriakos has really slim chances.
2022/23 LEN Euro Cup, Round 1, Day 3, evening session
Group A (Thessaloniki), Round 4
Echeyde – Solaris 8:15 (3:3, 0:6, 4:4, 1:2)
Echeyde: Keuning 2, Alegre 1, Diaz 1, Gutierrez 1,Espanol 1, Gonzalez 1, Salvador 1.
Solaris: Penava 4, Burburan 3,D.Butic 3, Erak 2, Brajkovic 1, Condic Kadmenovic 1, Jakovcevic 1.
ZV De Zaan – Ludwigsburg 16:7 (2:0, 4:2, 6:4, 4:1)
ZV De Zaan: Janssen 5, Mandolini 3, Brantjes 3, Rempt 2, Bakker 1, Lucas 1, Corver 1.
Ludwigsburg 08: Pavicic-Capucho 3, Kutchuashvili 1, Dzaja 1, Metodiev 1, Prieto Hernandez 1.
PAOK – Montpellier 13:8 (1:1, 3:1, 5:2, 4:4)
PAOK: Kechalaris 4, Tsolakoudis 2, Charalampopoulos 2, Koopman 2, Kougiounis 1, Prosniklis 1, Milradovic 1.
Montpellier: Mustur 3, Dory 1, Ivankovic 1, Vasin 1, Ben Romdhane 1.
ZV De Zaan didn’t let Ludwigsburg believe they could surprise. The Dutch proved too strong for the Germans. ZV De Zaan was always in front. After the first half, only a winning margin was in question.
Solaris convincingly beat Echeyde thanks to excellent 14 minutes of play. Three minutes before the first break, Echeyde had a 3:1 advantage. Solaris netted two goals in the last two minutes and a half of the first quarter. The Croats added six straight goals in the second period, and opened the third with an early power-play goal for 10:3. The Spaniards couldn’t recover from that shocking 0:8 series.
As the tournament is approaching an end, PAOK plays better and better. The hosts broke Montpellier with four unanswered goals in the second and third quarters. They jumped from 2:2 (9th minute) to 6:2 (17th minute), which was crucial. In the middle of the quarter, they streched the margin to five (8:3), and maintained the difference until the final buzzer.
1.Solaris (CRO) 4 – 12
2.ZV De Zaan (NED) 4 – 9
3. PAOK (GRE) 4 – 9
4. Montpellier (FRA) 4 – 6
5. Echeyde (ESP) 4 – 0
6. Ludwigsburg (GER) 4 – 0
Group B (Syrcuse), Round 4
Szolnok – Ortigia 9:11 (1:3, 2:4, 0:1, 6:3)
Szolnok: D.Jansik 2, Vismeg 2, Teleki 2, Pasztor 1, Vamosi 1,Schmolcz 1,
Ortigia: F.Ferreo 4, Gorria Puga 2, A.Condemi 2, Giribaldi 1, F.Condemi 1, Rossi 1.
Ydraikos – Partizan 12:14 (4:3, 2:5, 2:5, 4:1)
Ydraikos: Suzuki 3, Takata 3, Gkaranis 2, Rompopoulos 2, Dimakopoulos 1, Kontonis 1.
Partizan: Trtovic 3, Smiljevic 3, Dimitrijevic 2, Krstic 2, Paparic 1, Gladovic 1, Jaksic 1, Milos 1.
Pays d’Aix bye
Ortigia and Partizan collected the points and qualified for the next round. The last round will decide which two of the remaining three teams will join the Italians and the Serbs.
Ortigia needed less than 11 minutes to earn a 4-goal advantage (5:1) and maintained the difference until the middle break (7:3). Playing very well in defense, the Italians extended their lead to five in the third period (8:3). They lost the good rhythm in the final eight minutes. Still they controlled the match. In the last minute, they had a 11:7 lead. Szolnok netted two goals in the last 22 seconds to half the distance.
Partizan, like Ortigia, didn’t leave the decision for the fourth quarter. The Serbs didn’t start well. Ydraikos led 4:2 at the finish of the first period. Then Partizan scored three consecutive goals and went in front– 5:4. The Greeks leveled at 5:5 and 6:6. However, then Partizan produced a 5:0 run, built an 11:6 advantage, which was vital for their win. Ydraikos had no chance to equalize.
1.Ortigia (ITA) 3 – 9
2.Partizan (SRB)4 – 9
3.Szolnok (HUN) 3 – 3
4. Pays d’Aix (FRA) 3 – 3
5. Ydraikos (GRE) 3 – 0
Group C (Kranj), Round 4
Valis – Strasbourg 10:13 (2:2, 1:5, 3:2, 4:4)
Valis: Baucalo 3, Posmuga 2, Obradovic 2, Arsenovic 1, Kovacevic 1, Mitrovic 1.
Strasbourg: Petkovic 3, Buha 2, Chion 2, Bachelier 2, Popadic 1, Denux 1, Misic 1, I.Zivkovic 1.
Triglav – Honved 3:21 (2:4, 0:7, 0:5, 1:5)
Triglav: Grabec 1, Paunovic 1, Cerar 1.
Honved: Zs.Ekler 6, Kevi 4, B.Ekler 3, Fejos 2, Sugar 2, A.Manhercz 1, S.Hessels 1, B.Hessels 1, Simon 1.
Telimar – Terrassa 18:15 (5:2, 4:4, 6:5, 3:4)
Telimar: Hooper 6, Giorgetti 3, Vitale 2, Irving 2, Del Basso 1, Gilberti 1, Lo Casco 1, Fabiano 1, Lo Dico 1.
Terrassa : Delgado 5, Flores 3, Alarcon 2, De Lera 2, Rodriguez 1, Chico 1, Wilson 1.
Strasbourg cemented 1st place in the group with a win over Valis. At the beginning of the third period, Valis trailed by five goals (3:8), but the Serbs started coming back, and they were close to catching up with the French. In the 27th minute, Valis reduced the gap to one goal (8:9). But, Strasbourg scored three goals in a row for a 12:8 lead (30th minute) and killed all suspense.
Honved did what it had to do today. The Hungarians recorded a convincing victory over Triglav and booked the ticket for Round 2.
Telimar beat Terrassa in a flood of goals. The Palermo-based side stunned Mediterrani with a 4:0 and 5:1 lead in the first quarter. The Spaniards narrowed the gap to two goals twice in the second quarter (4:6 and 5:7), and again in the third (8:10, 9:11). But, Telimar scored four and conceded two goals in the last two minutes of the third quarter, and regained a 4-goal lead. Terrassa reduced the gap in the fourth period, but it wasn’t close to an equalizer.
Besides Telimar, Valis was happy with this outcome. Regardless of the results on Day 4, Valis and Telimar will qualify for the next round. Both teams beat Terrassa , which can catch neither of the two sides.
1. Strasbourg (FRA) 4 – 12
2. Honved (HUN) 4 – 9
3. Telimar (ITA) 4 – 6
4. Valis (SRB) 4 – 6
5. Terrassa (ESP) 4 – 3
6. Triglav (SVN) 4 – 0
Group D (Barcelona), Round 4
Apollon Smyrnis – Crvena Zvezda 8:10(3:3, 2:1, 2:3, 1:3)
Apollon Smyrnis: Gardikas 3, Solanakis 2, Bogdanovic 1,Chondrokoukis 1, Vickovic 1
Crvena Zvezda: Radovic 4, Tankosic 3, Subotic 1, Seman 1, Milojevic 1.
Trieste – Kosice 29:10 (8:1, 5:4, 8:2, 8:3)
Trieste: Buljubasic 4, Mladossich 4, Razzi 4, Petronio 3, Mezzarobba 3, Liprandi 3, Podgornik 2, Valentino 2, Bego 2, M.Vrlic 1, Bini 1.
Kosice: Juhasz 3, Haluska 2, Motyl 2, Muzhychuk 2, Hirjak 1.
Mediterrani – BVSC Zuglo 13:14 (3:5, 4:4, 1:1, 5:4)
Mediterrani: Radic 4, Perez 3,A.Garcia 2, Prat 1, Corres 1, Roca 1, McQuet 1.
BVSC: Csapo 3, M.Meszaros 3, Gal 3, A.Csacsovszky 2, Gyarfas 1, Szabo 1, Tatrai 1.
Crvena Zvezda, which qualified for Round 2 this morning, beat Apollon, which lost all chances of reaching 4th place after this loss. Apollon opened the match with a 3:0 blast and it seemed that it could defeat the group leader. Crvena Zvezda leveled before the first break, but Apollon regained a 3-goal lead deep into the third quarter (7:4). The Red Whites responded with five goals in a row, and turned around a deficit to a 9:7 lead. Apollon’s Solanakis scored for 8:9 (27th minute). However, the Greeks couldn’t equalize. Tankosic decided everything by converting a penalty in the 31st minute for the final score.
Trieste didn’t care much about defense in the match against Kosice. Still, the Italians’ attack worked well, and they booked the ticket for the next round with a convincing 29:10 victory. All field players of Trieste got on the scoresheet.
The last match of the day, Mediterrani-BVSC, had no big importance. After Crvena Zvezda beat Apollon and Telimar downed Kosice, it was clear that both Mediterrani and BVSC would qualify for the next round. BVSC earned a 2-goal lead in the first quarter and didn’t let the hosts equalize in the following three periods. BVSC had a 4-goal lead in the second quarter (9:5). Medterrani attempted to come back and reduced the gap to one in the fourth period (9:10, 10:11, 11:12, 12:13, 13:14), but it left the pool empty-handed.
1.Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 4 – 12
2. BVSC (HUN) 4 – 9
3. Trieste (ITA) 4 – 9
4. Mediterrani (ESP) 4 – 6
5. Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) 4 – 0
6. SKP Kosice (SVK) 4 – 0
Day 4 (October 16)
Group A (Thessaloniki): Ludwigsburg – Echeyde (09:30), ZV De Zaan – Montpellier (10:45), PAOK – Solaris (12:00)
Group B (Syracuse): Ydraikos – Szolnok (09:30), Ortigia – Pays d’Aix (11:00)
Group C (Kranj): Honved – Valis (10:00), Triglav – Telimar (11:40), Terrassa – Strasbourg (13:20)
Group D (Barcelona): Trieste – BVSC (09:30), Apollon – Kosice (11:10), Crvena Zvezda – Mediterrani (12:50)
