The playoffs in the water polo leagues of the ex-Yu countries are approaching.
Serbian clubs finished the regular season. In the last match, Partizan recorded an important win to secure 2nd place in the standings.
One round remains until the end of the regular season in Croatia. There were no surprises in the 13th round, played on Wednesday.
The Montenegrin League entered the third “quarter”. Yesterday, Primorac beat Jadran in the derby of the 8th round and returned to the race for 1st place. It’s most likely that these two clubs will face off in the final.
2021/22 Serbian League, second stage
Group for places 1st – 6th place, Round 5
Partizan – Crvena zvezda 12:10 (0:3, 5:3, 4:1, 3:3)
Played earlier
Vojvodina – Radnicki 8:12 (1:3, 2:2, 2:2, 3:5)
Šabac – Novi Beograd 7:16 (1:4, 0:4, 2:4, 4:4)
The last match of the regular season was a Belgrade derby. On Wednesday evening, Partizan hosted Crvena Zvezda in the game that was decisive in the race for places 2nd and 3rd before the playoffs. Crvena Zvezda didn’t have a chance to finish in 2nd place, but it could climb to 3rd place.
Crvena Zvezda started very well. The red-whites had a 3:0 lead at the first break. The visitors led 5:2 in the third and 7:5 in the third period. But, then Partizan scored five goals in a row jumped to a 10:7 lead. That comeback proved crucial for the outcome.
Three Olympians – Milan Aleksic (Serbia), Lovre Milos (Croatia) and Marko Vavic (USA) – and Lazar Vickovic were the best scorers in the winning team, with two goals each. Stefan Pjesivac netted three for Crvena Zvezda; Ivan Basara and Vuk Milojevic added two apiece.
Partizan kept 2nd place in the table, while Crvena Zvezda finished 4th.
The playoffs begin on Saturday. If there are no surprises in the quarterfinals, Partizan will play against Radnički, while Crvena Zvezda will face Novi Beograd in the semis.
1. Novi Beograd 10 – 27
2. Partizan 10 – 21*
3. Radnicki 10 – 21*
4. Crvena Zvezda 10 – 15
5. Šabac 10 – 6
6. Vojvodina 10 – 0
*Head-to-head:Partizan – Radnički 13:11 and 12:13
Places 7th – 10th, Round 3
Proleter – Zemun 16:9 (3:4, 5:1, 5:1, 3:3)
Valis – Nais 8:4 (2:1, 2:1, 2:1, 2:1)
7. Valis 6 – 18
8. Proleter 6 – 8
9. Nais 6 – 7
10. Zemun 6 – 1
Playoffs, quarterfinals (best-of two), March 19 and 26: Proleter – Novi Beograd, Valis – Partizan, Vojvodina – Radnički, Šabac – Crvena Zvezda.
2021/22 Croatian League, Round 13
Group for places 1st – 5th
Jadran Split – Mladost 16:7 (7:2, 2:2, 5:2, 2:1)
Solaris – Jug 7:15 (1:3, 2:5, 2:3, 2:4)
Mornar bye
There were no surprises in the 13th round of the Croatian League. Champions League clubs – Jug and Jadran Split recorded convincing wins.
Jadran was too strong for Mladost, which arrived in Split with only 12 players. Jadran opened the match with a 6:0 lead. Early in the third quarter, Mladost reduced the gap to 5:9. Still, Jadran responded with three straight goals for a comfortable 12:5 advantage. Konstantin Kharkov led Jadran with five goals. Niksa Dobud netted four. Marin Dasic scored three for Mladost.
Jug did a clean job in Sibenik. After a quarter and a half, Jug already had a 6-goal advantage (7:1). Alex Papanastaiou was unstoppable. The Greek found Solaris’ net six times. His fellow countryman Stylianos Argyropoulos scored three goals.
Alexandros Papanastasiou (Jug) Photo by Djordje Kostic/ VK Novi Beograd
The last, 14th round will be played on March 23.
1. Jadran S 12 – 36
2. Jug 12 – 33
3. Mladost 13 – 27
4. Solaris 12 – 16
5. Mornar 12 – 16
Group for places 6th – 10th
POSK – KPK Korcula 6:8 (1:3, 3:2, 0:1, 2:2)
Medvescak – Primorje EB 13:14 (3:3, 1:3,7:3, 2:5)
Zadar bye
Medvescak almost surprised Primorje. A minute before the end, Medvescak led 13:12, but Primorje secured all three points with two goals in the last 55 seconds.
6. Primorje 12 – 21
7. KPK Korcula 12 – 13
8. Medvescak 13 – 10
9. POSK 12 – 4
10. Zadar 1952 12 – 3
2021/22 Montenegrin League, Round 8
Primorac – Jadran HN 11:9 (3:2, 1:4, 5:0, 2:3) play-by-play and statistics
Cattaro – Budva 9:9 (2:1, 1:3, 1:3, 5:2) play-by-play and statistics
Jadran suffered the first loss in the national league this season. Primorac, which won the Montenegrin Cup in December, defeated its arch-rival in a match with many twists and turns. The Kotor-based side led 3:2 at the first break, but Jadran turned around the deficit to a 6:4 lead at halftime. Primorac dominated the third period and headed into the third quarter leading 9:6. However, Jadran didn’t say its last word. In the middle of the fourth period, Jadran leveled at 9:9. But, Primorac netted two unanswered goals in the remaining time for an 11:9 win. The player of the match was Primorac’s Dusan Matkovic with four goals.
Marko Gopcevic (Primorac) Photo by Krsto Vulovic/VPSCG
Cattaro won the first point in the season after a 9:9 draw in the match with Budva. The team of Budva controlled the game for most of the time and had a 3-goal advantage (8:5, 9:6) in the fourth quarter, but Cattaro secured the point with three unanswered goals in the last 125 seconds.
1.Jadran HN 8 – 21
2. Primorac 8 – 18
3. Budva 8 – 7
4. Cattaro 8 – 1
For all results, live scores and the schedule visit the page 2021/22 Montenegrin Championship, Total Waterpolo Arena
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