Marseille continued its domination in France and added another trophy to its treasury.
This weekend, the Final Eight of the French Cup (Trophy “Pierre Garseau “) took place in Strasbourg.
The teams that are among the top eight teams in the French League after nine rounds participated in the tournament.
Marseille defended the trophy with three convincing victories.
Since Marseille currently holds 1st place in the league, it faced 8th-placed Montpellier in the quarterfinals. The reigning champion blew Montpellier away – 19:5.
Marseille’s rival in the semifinals was Noisy-le-Sec. Seven days ago, these two teams faced off in the 9th round of the championship and played a thrilling match. Noisy was close to winning all three points, but Marseille leveled in the dying seconds and recorded a win after a penalty shootout (16:15).
The duel in the “Pierre Garsau Trophy” semifinals produced a completely different storyline. Marseille took off to a flying start and grabbed a 6:0 lead. At halftime, it stood 9:2. At the end of the game eight goals separated the rivals – 15:7.
Tourcoing beat host Strasbourg in the second semifinal match, which was very exciting even though Tourcoing dictated the pace and led for most of the time. However, Tourcoing’s advantage was never larger than two goals. Before the final period, the teams were tied at 6:6. Tourcoing’s ace Mehdi Marzouki opened the fourth quarter with two goals and gave his team an 8:6 lead. In the remaining time, the teams exchanged goals for the final score (10:8).
All medal winners Photo: FFN-Philippe Fretault/ WP inside
Marseille was in front of Tourcoing throughout the final. The team from the biggest French port was 4:1 up after the first quarter. Tourcoing cut the deficit to one goal twice in the second quarter (3:4 and 4:5). After Tourcoing’s fourth goal, Marseille responded with three, jumped to 8:4, and didn’t let the rival come close again. Marseille recorded a 14:9 victory. Marseille played without first goalkeeper Lazovic in the final and the semifinals.
Noisy-le-Sec won the bronze medal. The Parisians outplayed Strasbourg in the first half of the 3rd-place match (7:1). Strasbourg couldn’t recover from that start. The final score was 15:10.
I The French Cup was inaugurated in 1988. It wasn’t played in between 2004 and 2006 and between 2013 and 2021. Three seasons ago, it was re-established in memory of French water polo player Pierre Garsau. Marseille has won all three trophies since then and 13 national cups in total.
Day 1 (Quarterfinals)
Tourcoing – Sete 12:8 (6:1, 2:2, 3:2, 1:3)
Noisy-le-Sec – Pays d’Aix 18:4 (6:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1)
Marseille – Montpellier 19:5 (4:0, 8:0, 4:2, 3:3)
Strasbourg – Reims 13:9 (4:3, 3:4, 4:1, 2:1)
Day 2
Semifinals
Marseille – Noisy-le-Sec 15:7 (5:0, 4:2, 3:2, 3:3)
Strasbourg – Tourcoing 8:10 (1:2, 2:2, 3:2, 2:4)
Classification 5th – 8th place
Sete – Reims 12:11 (3:6, 2:2, 4:1, 3:2)
Pays d’Aix – Montpellier 13:10 (4:3, 1:3, 4:0, 4:4)
Day 3
Final
Marseille – Tourcoing 14:9 (4:1, 3:3, 5:4, 2:1)
Marseille: Crousillat 3, Manhercz 3, Bodegas 2, Vernoux 2, Prlainovic 1, Olivon 1.
Tourcoing: D.Zivkovic 3, Marzouki 2, Canonne 2, Durik 1, Milicic 1,
Bronze-medal match
Noisy-le-Sec – Strasbourg 15:10 (2:1, 5:0, 2:5, 6:4)
Noisy: Bowen 4, Markovic 3, Bjorch 2, Krapic 2,V.Rasovic 2, Saudadier 1, Do Carmo 1
Strasbourg: Buga 4,Petkovic 2, Mehdi 1, Canovas 1, Popadic 1, Misic 1.
5th-place match: Pays d’Aix – Sete 10:13 (1:4, 5:3, 1:2, 3:4)
7th-place match: Montpellier – Reims 11:16 (2:5, 1:5, 4:1, 4:5)
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