Honved, Tenerife, Partizan, and Sete recorded victories in crucial matches of the last day of the Conference Cup Round 1, securing their advancement to Round 2.
Partizan delivered the day’s biggest surprise. The Serbian team, composed mostly of teenagers, displayed an very good performance against De Akker Bologna, which was considered the favorite in Group D, in Belgrade. The hosts achieved a 13:11 victory, moving into second place behind De Akker and ahead of EVK Zaibas. The Lithuanian team, which had defeated Partizan the previous day, also finished with six points alongside the Italians and Serbs. However, the Lithuanians dropped to third place due to having the worst goal difference among the three teams tied in points.
Honved triumphed over PAOK 15:8, finishing second in Group A (Utrecht). Tenerife secured second place in Group B (Athens). Sete dominated Vitoria, as anticipated, in the match that determined the second qualifying berth from Group C (Split).
These four teams joined Posillipo, Panionios, Mornar, De Akker, Primorje, and Mataro, all of which secured their spots in Round 2 after Saturday’s matches.
In addition to the top two teams from each of the five groups in Round 1, teams eliminated from the Euro Cup will participate in the second phase of the Conference Cup: Apollon Smyrnis, Sport Management, ZV De Zaan, Crvena Zvezda, Montpellier, Rapid, Dinamo Tbilisi, and OSC Potsdam.
In Round 2 the teams will be split into new groups, which will be played on a tournament basis.
2026 Conference Cup, Round 1, Day 3
Honved – PAOK 15:8 (4:4, 5:1, 3:2, 3:1)
Honved: Vickovic 5, Moskov 5, Sugar 1, Kiss 1, Ekler 1, Simon 1, Szepfalvi 1.
PAOK: Delic 3, Chodokoukis 2, Kechalaris 1.
UZSC – Posillipo 10:18 (3:2, 1:5, 5:4, 1:7)
UZSC Utrecht: De Jong 3, Wijnhoven 3, Athymaritis 2, Ten Wolde 1, Loos 1.
Posillipo: Cuccovillo 4, Rocchino 4, Radovic 2, Auello 2, Renzuto 2, Valle 2, Milicic 1, Porzio 1.
Honved and PAOK squared off in a decisive match for second place. In the opening minutes, the game was evenly matched, but the Hungarians eliminated all suspense in the second period. Honvcd, powered by Lazar Vickovic and Nikola Moskov, scored five unanswered goals between the 10th and 15th minutes, establishing a commanding 9:4 lead. In the second half, Honved controlled the match, maintaining a safe distance from PAOK.
The encounter between UZSC and Posillipo had no impact on the standings, but the Italians demonstrated their status as favorites.
Standings: 1. Posillipo 8, 2. Honved 7, 3. PAOK 3, 4. UZSC 0.
GROUP B (Athens, Nea Smyrni)
White Sharks – Tenerife 11:22 (5:6, 4:4, 1:6, 1:6)
White Sharks Hannover: F. Rotermund 3, Palata 2, Mityska 1, J.Rotermund 1, Hulshoff 1, Muller 1.
Tenerife: Araya 7, Andion 5, Diaz 2, Ramirez 2, Mercado 2, Gonzalez 1, Garcia 1, Prunell 1, Gurierezz 1.
Panionios – Budva 16:13 (6:4, 4:3, 4:4, 2:2)
Panionios: Gounas 6, Suzuki 3, K. Bitsakos 2, Karatzas 1, Papakos 1, A. Bistakos 1, Koukounas 1, Kapetanakis 1.
Budva Budvanska Rivijera: Bastrica 3, Kalaitzis 3, Vuskovic 3, Milic 1, Agh 1, Dragovic 1, Vukicevic 1.
Tenerife needed a considerable amount of time to overcome the resistance of the White Sharks. The Germans, who were the underdogs in the tournament, posed significant challenges for the Spaniards and successfully kept pace with their rivals throughout the first half. A minute before halftime, the teams were tied at 9:9. However, in the second half, Tenerife tightened its defense and secured a 22:11 victory. Yet, Tenerife had to wait for the outcome of the match between Panionios and Budva to determine if they would advance to the next stage.
In the end, the Spanish team celebrated as Budva didn’t defeat Panionios, so Tenerife climbed to 2nd place.
Budva went ahead only once – at 3:2. Panionios then responded with four goals in less than three minutes for a 6:3 lead. Budva narrowed the gap to two goals on several occasions. Late in the third period, the Montenegrins threatened Panionios’ lead one last time, bringing the score to 11:13. However, the Greeks responded with a 3:0 run. By the 30th minute, Panionios secured a 16:11 advantage, and the contest was over.
Standings: 1. Panionios 9, 2. Tenerife 5, 3. Budva 4, 4. White Sharks 0.
GROUP C (Split)
Vitoria – Sete 8:20 (0:3, 0:5, 4:9, 4:3)
Vitoria:Mariani 2, Ramos 2, Camacho 1, Costa 1, Lopes 1, Oliveira 1.
Sete: Radojevic 5, Sauton 4, Karsenti 2, Vasin 2, Mureddu 2, Lopinot 1, Debais 1, Tomic 1, De Bie 1, Gomes Da Silva 1.
Mornar – Banja Luka 24:4 (5:0, 4:0, 6:2, 9:2)
Mornar: Penava 5, Buselic 4, Dragas 4, Hrvatic 4, Katunaric 3, Uvodic 2, Omrcen 1, Guduric 1.
Banja Luka:Cosic 1, Stevandic 1, Glavic 1, Jagodic 1.
The final day of competition reaffirmed that Vitoria and Banja Luka are not in the same league as Sete and Mornar. The teams from Croatia and France achieved easy victories, and the standings remained unchanged from Saturday’s matches.
Standings: 1. Mornar 9, 2. Sete 6, 3. Vitoria 3, 4. Banja Luka 0.
GROUP D (Belgrade)
Neukolln – EVK Zaibas 12:16 (1:6, 3:5, 5:2, 3:3)
Neukolln:Smit 3, Gottreid 3, Elaassar 2, Weber 2, Costa 1, Kechedzhy 1.
EVK Zaibas: Jonkus 4, Bakulo 3, Jelaca 2, Vitkauskas 2, Zurza 1, Krapic 1, Petrovski 1
Partizan – De Akker 13:11 (1:1, 6:3, 4:4, 2:3)
Partizan: Djokanovic 5, Radulovic 2, K. Bodiroga 1, Neskovic 1, Andjelic 1, Cutajar 1, Canepa 1, Durutovic 1.
De Akker: Erdelyi 4, Urbinati 2, Bragantini 1, Mcfarland 1, Campopiano 1, Di Murro , Lucci 1.
In the first match of the final day, EVK Zaibas defeated Neukolln as expected. The Lithuanians finished the tournament with two wins, but it wasn’t enough to secure a ticket to the second round, as Partizan played its best game of the season and upset De Akker.
Three teams each earned six points, but De Akker had the best goal difference in a three-way tie, securing 1st place. Partizan clinched 2nd place, and EVK Zaibas ended up in 3rd.
Few believed that Partizan could beat De Akker, considering that the Serbs suffered a three-goal defeat to EVK Zaibas yesterday. However, unlike the match against the Lithuanians, Partizan kept a constant level of its play, with no big downs.
The first quarter saw one goal at each end of the pool. Partizan got off to an excellent start in the second period, which proved to be a crucial moment. The hosts scored three unanswered goals in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, taking a 4:1 lead. The Italians narrowed the gap to one goal at 3:4, but Partizan regained a three-goal lead, reaching 6:3 and then 7:4 by the end of the first half. Partizan responded to each of the Italians’ goals in the third period, entering the final period with an 11:8 advantage. Djokanovic, who was outstanding today, extended the margin to 12:8 early in the fourth period. Though the Bolognese team halved the deficit midway through the fourth quarter (10:12), Partizan did not allow them to get any closer.
Standings: 1. De Akker 6, 2. Partizan 6, 3. EVK Zaibas 6, 4. Neukolln 0.
Head-to-head matches: De Akker – EVK 21:13, EVK – Partizan 16:13, Partizan – De Akker 13:11.
GROUP E (Rijeka)
Primorje – Mataro 23:11 (6;1, 6:5, 4:4, 7:1)
Primorje: Radulovic 8, Brubnjak 4, Crippa 3, Vukojevic 3, Baucalo 1, Snel 1, Rakovac 1, Burburan 1, Doknic 1.
Mataro:Bertran 3, Flaque 2, Aguirre 2, Rodriguez 2, Castro 1, Blanch 1.
The last match of the tournament had no big importance, as both teams had already qualified for the next stage. However, Primorje took the game very seriously and recorded a convincing win, led by Marko Radulovic, who netted eight goals.
By the way, the Croats netted 50 goals in two games (yesterday, they beat Galatasaray 27:7).
Standings: 1. Primorje 6, 2. Mataro 3, 3. Galatasaray 0.
NOTE: The four eliminated teams from the countries ranked 13th and below in the EA Clubs’ Ranking will play in the Challenger Cup: Galatasaray, EVK Zaibas, Vitoria and Banja Luka. The remaining teams, ranked 3rd and 4th in their groups, finished their European season.
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