After thirty games that have been played in two venues in the last four days, the competition in the semifinal groups of 2020/21 Regional League has been finished today.
The list of the semifinalist is complete. Jadran Split and Radnicki secured 2nd positions in their respective groups. The two teams qualified for the Final Four and joined Mladost and Jug, which earned their F4 berths yesterday.
Jadran Split defeated Primorje today (13:10) and took the 2nd place in Group A, behind Mladost and ahead of Crvena Zvezda. Mladost beat Crvena Zvezda to remain atop the group.
Radnicki Kragujevac and Primorac met in the match that was decisive for 2nd place. Radnicki defeated the Montenegrins 12:10 and qualified for the F4.
The semifinals of the 2020/21 Regional league (Zagreb, March 26): Jug – Jadran S, Mladost – Radnicki. The winners will meet in the final on March 27.
Day 4 (results) – Group A: Jadran S – Primorje 13:10, Crvena Zvezda – Mladost 10:18, Sabac – Partizan 14:9. Group B: Budva – Jadran HN 8:15, Solaris – Jug 5:14, Radnicki – Primorac 12:10
Day 4 (results) – Group A: Jadran S – Primorje 13:10, Crvena Zvezda – Mladost 10:18, Sabac – Partizan 14:9. Group B: Budva – Jadran HN 8:15, Solaris – Jug 5:14, Radnicki – Primorac 12:10
2020/21 Premier Regional League, semifinal groups, Day 4
Group A (Belgrade)
Jadran S – Primorje 13:10 (1:2, 5:1, 3:4, 4:3)
Jadran Split: Setka 5, Zovic 5, Marinic Kragic 1, Delic 1.
Primorje EB: Rakovac 4, Paparic 2, Letica 1, Brubnjak 1, Vrbnjak 1.
Crvena Zvezda – Mladost 10:18 (4:4, 2:5, 3:6, 1:3)
Crvena Zvezda: Subotic 4, Tankosic 3, Markovic 1, Basara 1, Vukicevic 1.
HAVK Mladost: Radu 4, Lazic 3, Bukic 2, Viskovic 2, Kharkov 2, Biljaka 1, Dasic 1, Buslje 1, M. Vrlic 1, J.Vrlic 1.
Sabac – Partizan 14:9 (3:2, 3:2, 4:1, 4:4)
Sabac:Vucinic 4, Cetkovic 4, Stojanovic 3, Markovic 1, Repanovic 1, Velkic 1.
Partizan: S. Mitrovic 5, Barac 1, Nesic 1, Schofield 1, Vergara 1.
Jadran Split defeated Primorje in the first today’s game and then had to await the outcome of the match Mladost – Crvena Zvezda to find out if they would qualify for the Final Four. The Split-based side celebrated a 3-goal win, but they secured the victory in the last few minutes. Jadran dominated the second period and built a solid 6:3 advantage by halftime. Primorje was coming back from time to time, but it couldn’t catch up with Jadran during the 3rd period. However, the Rijeka-based team leveled the score – 9:9 in the 29th minute. Shortly after, Andjelo Setka converted a penalty to put Jadran in front again (10:9). Two minutes and 42 seconds, Primorje’s Letica found the net for 10:10. Still, with three goals in the last two minutes and a half, Jadran secured a win. Experienced players Ivan Domagoj Zovic and Andjelo Setka made a crucial contribution to the victory. Each scored five goals.
Mladost water polo didn’t let Crvena Zvezda surprise them. The titleholder finished the tournament with a win. After a balanced first period (4:4), Mladost’s Konstantin Kharkov opened the second period with a goal for 5:4. Ivan Basara replied immediately for 5:5 in the 10th minute. After that, Mladost produced a 3:0 series for 8:5 and kept the distance until the end of the first half (9:6). Crvena Zvezda couldn’t keep pace with the Regional League champion in the second half. The Serbs reduced the gap early in the third quarter (7:9). However, Mladost dominated from that point on. Cosmin Radu scored four goals for Mladost, Gavril Subotic netted four for the hosts.
It turned out that Jadran’s win over Crvena Zvezda after a penalty shootout on Day 1 (18:16) was decisive in the battle for the 2nd place.
Serbian champion Sabac closed the tournament with a convincing victory over Partizan.
1 Mladost (CRO) 5 – 15
2 Jadran Split (CRO) 5 – 11
3 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 5 – 10
4 Sabac (SRB) 5 – 6
5 Partizan (SRB) 5 – 3
6 Primorje (CRO) 5 – 0
Group B (Dubrovnik)
Budva – Jadran HN 8:15 (2:5, 2:1, 1:2, 3:7)
Budva BR: Giga 2, Mitrovic 2, Dragovic 1, Vukmirovic 1, Vukicevic 1, Korac 1.
Jadran Herceg Novi: Gardasevic 5, Averka 3, Vucurovic 2, Da. Radovic 1, Muscat 1, Banicevic 1, Vujovic 1, Murisic 1.
Solaris – Jug 5:14 (0:4, 3:2, 1:4, 1:4)
Solaris: Erak 1, Herceg 1, Pelicaric 1, Penava 1, Koprcina 1.
Jug AO: Papanastasiou 3, Fatovic 3, Zvono 2, Obert 1, Loncar 1, Krzic 1, Tomasovic 1, Merkulov 1, Zuvela 1.
Radnicki – Primorac 12:10 (4:3, 3:5, 5:1, 0:1)
KVK Radnicki: Rasovic 5, Lukic 2, Radulovic 2, Jankovic 1, Krug 1, Ukropina 1.
Primorac: Adzic 3, Molthen 2, Matkovic 2, Macic 1, Perkovic 1, Stanojevic 1.
Games Budva – Jadran HN and Solaris – Jug had no importance in the battle for the final standings. Jug secured 1st place yesterday, while Budva, Jadran, and Solaris were out of the race for the Final Four.
After a little bit surprising loss to Solaris yesterday, Jadran Herceg Novi defeated Budva in the Montenegrin derby. Jug finished the tournament the same way it played during the entire competition, with a big and comfortable victory.
The encounter between Radnicki and Primorac was a great battle with a lot of twists and turns. Radnicki managed to come back from a 2-goal deficit and to secure a ticket for the Final Four. Primorac started better and took an early 1:0 and 2:1 lead. Radnicki responded with three consecutive goals for 4:2. Primorac’s Djordje Stanojevic found the net two seconds before the first break and the difference was just a goal before the second period.
Radnicki doubled an advantage in the first possession in the 2nd quarter (5:3). However, Primorac responded with a 5:1 series and earned a 2-goal lead (8:6 in the 15th minute). But, a new turn was yet to come. Radnicki, led by Strahinja Rasovic, scored three goals in a row and went ahead again (9:8) in the middle of the third period. Shortly after, Danilo Adzic converted a man-up to equalize (9:9). However, Radnicki produced another 3:0 series in the last three minutes of the third period. The Serbs entered the final period leading 12:9 and didn’t let the Montenegrins come back into the battle for the F4 berth.
Primorac finished 5th in the group. The Kotor-based team won 6 points, as well as Jadran Herceg Novi and Solaris. Jadran is the best in the circle of these three clubs, Solaris 2nd, and Primorac 3rd. Jadran defeated Primorac by four goals (9:5), and lost to Solaris 11:13. Primorac was better than Solaris (9:7).
1 Jug AO (CRO) 5 – 15
2 Radnicki (SRB) 5 – 12
3 Jadran HN (MNE) 5 – 6
4 Solaris (CRO) 5 – 6
5 Primorac (MNE 5 – 6
6 Budva BR (MNE) 5 – 0
