The Romanian champion, CSM Oradea, has won two trophies in just a few days. Last week, Oradea secured the Romanian Super Cup for the 2024/25 season by defeating Steaua Bucharest 12:7 in Otopeni.
The 2025/26 season officially kicked off this week with a four-day Romanian Cup tournament held in Focsani. Seven teams, split into two groups in the first phase, took part.
Oradea and Rapid Bucharest advanced to the semifinals as group winners, while Steaua Bucharest and Dinamo Bucharest joined them as runners-up.
Steaua, the winner of the 2024/25 Romanian Cup, surprisingly lost to Rapid in Group A (11:13 in a penalty shootout). Meanwhile, Oradea secured the top spot in Group B by defeating Dinamo 17:14 in a crucial match.
This set up a semifinal showdown between two main title contenders, Oradea and Steaua. Steaua started a little bit better, taking a 5:3 lead. However, Oradea responded with a pivotal 6:0 run, ultimately winning the match 13:10 to qualify for the final. Rapid, after upsetting Steaua, suffered a convincing 10:17 loss to Dinamo in the other semifinal.
In the final, Oradea once again defeated Dinamo, this time by a margin of five goals, 14:9 (6:2, 3:4, 3:1, 2:2). This victory marked Oradea’s fifth Romanian Cup title, following wins in 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2020.
In the third-place match, Steaua water polo players managed to defeat Rapid 12:8, avenging their earlier defeat in the group stage.
Besides the semifinalists, CSU Oradea, Sportul Studentesc, and Targu Mures participated in the Romanian Cup.
Montenegrin player Filip Gardasevic, who scored 16 goals for Oradea during the tournament, was named the MVP of the 2025/26 Romanian Cup.
