The traditional “Darko Cukic” memorial tournament is over and Montenegro is leaving with the gold. 13 national teams, with players born in 2003 and younger, gathered in Belgrade, on “Milan Gale Muškatirović“ pools.
In the finals against Serbia, Montenegrins celebrated with 12:8. The USA won the third place after beating Greece.
Montenegrins played with their heart and soul, taking the lead and scoring for 4:0 in the first five minutes. At the beginning of the second quarter, Serbia had a comeback with 5:3.
It didn’t take long for the guests to collect themselves and score another three goals for 8:3. In the last quarter, Serbia almost caught up with the Montenegrins, but still suffered the loose play from the beginning. Montenegro took the advantage and celebrated their win.
After the game, Veljko Uskokovic (Montenegrin coach) commented:
“I have to be overwhelmed. We played with a combined team on this tournament. We left seven of our players at home to give an opportunity to the younger ones. They’re getting ready for next year’s European Championship.
We played an exceptional tournament and showed our best play. I didn’t question our victory against Serbia. We opened the match properly and deserved to celebrate in the end. A short break awaits us, and then the European Championship qualifications are on.”
Montenegro v Serbia 12:8
Quarters: 5:2, 3:1, 0:3, 4:2
Montenegro: Radović, Baštrica 1, Vukićević 1, Bošković, Mršić 4, Vukšić, Gopčević, V. Radović 2, Vujošević, Ivanović 4, Rejhel, Moračanin, Bulajić
Serbia: Vujnić, Lazić 1, Beronja, Baucalo 1, Janošević, Marković 1, Božović, Dimitrijević, Martinović 4, Milić, Ilić, Kokai, Milovanović
Final Standings
- Montenegro
- Serbia
- USA
- Greece
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Australia
- Romania
- Malta
- Hungary
- Slovakia
- Georgia
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