After two days of the LEN Euro Cup Qualification Round 1, two clubs are very close to the second phase.
Three rounds have been already played in Group A in Sibenik. Telimar (Italy) and Solaris (Croatia) have recorded two wins each in this group, and they are on the way toward the second phase.
The groups in Syracuse and Novi Sad started today. All favorites recorded convincing wins.
The most exciting game of the day was an encounter between Sabac and Duisburg in the second round of the group in Utrecht. Sabac defeated the Germans by two goals (13:11). Sabac is atop the group after two rounds.
Day 2, results – Group A – Round 2: Carouge – Sant Andreu 5:14, Shturm – Telimar 4:18, Round 3: Carouge – Shturm 8:11, Solaris – Sant Andreu 13:6. Group B – Round 1:Strasbourg – Ludwigsburg 16:8, Ortigia – Peristeri 11:8, Group C – Round 2: UZSC – Vasas 7:14, Duisburg – Sabac 11:13, Group D – Round 1: Vojvodina – Sabadell 5:12, BVSC – AEK 13:6.
LEN Euro Cup, Qualification Round 1, Day 2
Group A (Sibenik)
Round 2
Carouge – Sant Andreu 5:14 (2:4, 1:3, 0:4, 2:3)
Carouge Natation: Blary 2, Malaspinas 1, Pontiekas 1, Pirat 1.
Sant Andreu: Frigola 4, Paul 3, Montes 2, Bofill 2, Bargallo 1, Tenorio 1, Garcia 1.
Shturm Ruza – Telimar 4:18 (1:4, 2:4, 1:8, 0:2)
Shturm 2002 Ruza: Ziuzin 2, Egorov 1, Shevchuk 1.
Telimar Palermo: Del Basso 4, Irving 4, Vlahovic 2, Lo Dico 2, Marziali 2, Fabiano 1, Gilberti 1, Basic 1, Lo Cascio 1.
Solaris bye
Two one-sided contests were played in the morning session of the 2nd competition day in Sibenik.
Sant Andreu recorded an easy win over Carouge. A young team of Shturm (11 players are teenagers) wasn’t an equal rival to Telimar.
Round 3
Carouge – Shturm Ruza 8:11 (2:2, 2:2, 0:3,4:4)
Carouge Natation: Blary 4, Pirat 2, Gazzini 1, Pontikeas 1.
Shturm 2002 Ruza: Barabushka 3, Egorov 2, Dolinskii 2, Ryabov 1, Alekseev 1, Shevchuk 1, Ziuzin 1.
Solaris – Sant Andreu 13:6 (1:1, 6:1, 1:3, 5:1)
Solaris: Penava 4, Goreta 3, Condic Kamendovic 2, Koprcina 2, Malenica 1, Strkalj 1.
Sant Andreu: Garcia 5, Yanez 1
Telimar bye
Shturm collected the first three points with a victory over Carouge. The Russians secured the win in the second half. It stood 4:4 at the middle break. After that, Shturm scored four unanswered goals and went to 8:4. Carouge wasn’t able to catch up with the Russians after that 0:4 series.
Solaris defeated Sant Andreu more convincingly than expected and earned very valuable points in their efforts to reach the second stage. In the 10th minute, the score was 2:2. But, the hosts flew after that and jumped to a 7:2 lead. The third period belonged to the Spaniards, but the Croats found their rhythm in the fourth quarter again and cruised to a 13:6 win.
1 Solaris (CRO) 2 – 6
2 Telimar (ITA) 2 – 6
3 Sant Andreu (ESP) 3 – 3
4 Shturm 2002 (RUS) 2 – 3
5 Carouge (SUI) 3 – 0
Saturday, October 2: Telimar – Carouge (18:00), Shturm Ruza – Solaris (19:45)
Group B (Syracuse), Round 1
Strasbourg – Ludwigsburg 16:8 (7:1, 5:3, 1:1, 3:3)
Team Strasbourg: Babic 4, Buha 4, Misic 2, Valentino 2,Bachelier 2, Cesca 1, Denux 1.
Ludwigsburg 08: Martinic 2, Ruggeri 2, Van der Bosch 1, Bosic 1, Blazevic 1, Manic 1.
Ortigia – Peristeri 11:8 (3:3, 3:0, 4:2, 1:3)
Ortigia: Mirarchi 3, Ferrero 2, Vidovic 2, Condemi 1, Gallo 1, Rossi 1, Napolitano 1.
Peristeri: Agkortsas 3, Farmer 1, Bitsakos 1, Papasifakis 1, Torakis 1, Ladas 1.
Strasbourg, led by David Babic and Antonio Buha, took a flying start into the match against Ludwigsburg. The French earned an 8:1 lead in the 11th minute. They widened the gap by the middle break (12:4), and the Germans couldn’t recover.
Ortigia, which played in the Champions League last season, secured a win over Peristeri in the middle two quarters. Each team scored three goals in the first period, but Ortigia started dominating after the first break. The hosts netted five straight goals by the middle of the third period (10:5) and maintained the five-goal difference until the final quarter, then the Greeks started coming back, but it was too late.
Saturday, October 2: Ludwigsburg – Peristeri (15:30), Ortigia – Strasbourg (17:00)
Group C (Utrecht), Round 2
UZSC – Vasas 7:14 (2:3, 1:4, 2:4, 2:3)
UZSC Utrecht:Kastrop 3, De Jong 2, Wijnhoven 1, Gielen 1.
Vasas: Vadovics 2, Mezei 2, Szatmari 2, Batori 2, Bedo 2, Brguljan 1, Randjelovic 1, Erdelyi 1, Sedlmayer 1.
ASC Duisburg – Sabac 11:13 (1:2, 5:5, 3:2, 2:4)
ASC Duisburg: Tanaskovic 3, Kilibarda 2, Gergelyfi 1, Schwark 1, Dolff 1, Rompf 1, Gansen 1, Bakulo 1.
Sabac: Sulc 5, Koptsev 3, Markovic 2, Repanovic 2, Vogel 1.
Tourcoing bye
Vasas returned to the European stage after a few years of absence. And, it was a comeback in style. The Hungarians proved that they were among the favorites for the trophy. UZSC Utrecht equalized just once (1:1). The Hungarians built a 4-goal lead in the first half (7:3). The Dutch didn’t give in, but Vasas’ win wasn’t in danger.
Sabac, which plays with a shorten roster in Utrecht (only 11 players arrived in the Netherlands because of injuries and corona cases), led most of the time against Duisburg. Still, the Serbs couldn’t relax until the very end. Sabac had a 2-goal lead several times in the first three quarters, but Duisburg didn’t let them build a big advantage and chased Sabac all the way. Before the final period, the score was 9:9. Sabac scored three goals in a row in the first four minutes of the final period for 12:9, but the Germans still hadn’t said their last word. Three minutes before the end, Duisburg’s Djordje Tanaskovic found the net for 11:13. The German club fought hard in the game’s finish, but Sabac kept a 2-goal advantage and chances to reach the second round.
The Serbs will have two demanding tasks tomorrow, as they will face Vasas and Tourcoing. These matches will be decisive in the battle for the top two places in this group.
1 Sabac (SRB) 2 – 4
2 Vasas (HUN) 1 – 3
3 Tourcoing (FRA) 1 – 3
4 UZSC Utrecht (NED) 2 – 1
5 ASC Duisburg (GER) 2 – 0
Saturday, October 2: Vasas – ASC Duisburg (10:00), Sabac – Tourcoing (11:30), UZSC – Tourcoing (19:15), Vasas – Sabac (20:45)
Group D (Novi Sad), Round 1
Vojvodina – Sabadell 5:12 (1:5, 1:3, 2:2, 1:2)
Vojvodina: Radanovic 3, Rogac 1, Nikolov 1.
Sabadell: Sanahuja 3, Averka 3, Cabanas 2, Teclas 1, Valera 1, Bertran 1, Lopez 1.
BVSC – AEK 13:6 (4:3, 2:0, 2:0, 5:3)
BVSC Budapest: Pasztor 4,Cs. Meszaros 2, Kovacs 2, M.Nagy 1, Csapo 1, Batizi 1, Gyarfas 1, M.Meszaros 1.
AEK Athens: Krijestorac 4, Tsatalios 2, Diplaros 1.
Sabadell, the quarterfinalist of the 2021 LEN Euro Cup, easily beat host Vojvodina. The Spaniards built a 6-goal lead by halftime (8:2), opened the second half with a goal for 9:2, and never looked back.
AEK, the debutant at the European scene, kept up with BVSC in the first quarter. However, the Hungarians held the Greeks scoreless in the 2nd and the 3rd quarter, which proved crucial for their win. BVSC entered the final eight minutes with a solid 8:3 advantage. Shortly after the last break, AEK finally ended its goalless phase, but BVSC continued controlling the game and recorded a 7-goal win.
Saturday, October 2: Vojvodina – AEK (18:00), Sabadell – BVSC (20:00).
More articles about the LEN Euro Cup
