The regular season of the Serbian Championship has been ended. A derby of the last round was played in Belgrade where Sabac defeated Novi Beograd (7:4).
Jadran Split qualified for the semifinals of the playoffs of the Croatian League with two wins over Mornar.
Budva and Cattaro will play the 3rd match in the playoffs for 3rd place in Montenegro.
2020/21 Serbian League, Day 18
Zemun – Radnicki 9:10 (1:3, 1:0, 4:1, 3:6)
Novi Beograd – Sabac 4:7 (1:3, 0:1, 1:0, 2:3)
Nais – Vojvodina 3:8 (0:3, 0:3, 1:0, 2:2)
Crvena Zvezda – Stari grad 21:5 (7:1, 4:1, 4:1, 6:2)
Banjica – Partizan 5:17 (2:4, 1:5, 1:3, 1:5)
An encounter between Novi Beograd and Sabac was the derby of the last round. Both teams had nothing to lose or win in this match. Novi Beograd secured 2nd place earlier, while Sabac had no chance to move from 4th place (a day before this game, Crvena Zvezda confirmed 3rd place with a win over Stari Grad).
But, everybody wants to achieve a victory in derby games. This time, reigning champion Sabac had a bigger desire to win. Sabac led throughout the match. Novi Beograd managed to equalize just once (1:1). After the hosts’ first goal, Sabac responded with three and jumped to a 4:1 lead before the middle break. Playing well in defense, the visitors maintained the 3-goal difference until the end. Markovic and Vucinic scored two goals each for Sabac, while Gogov scored two for Novi Beograd.
The league-leader Radnicki avoided a defeat in the game against 7th-placed Zemun. The Kragujevac-based side arrived in Belgrade without a few key players (goalkeeper Dobozanov, Brankovic, Pljevlancic, Milicic Radulovic). Still, a rejuvenated team of Radnicki was the favorite. However, Zemun dictated the pace most of the time. Radnicki was better in the first quarter – 3:1, but Zemun dominated in the second and third and entered the fourth period with a 6:4 advantage. Two and a half minutes before the end, Radnicki regained a lead (9:8). Zemun leveled the score immediately after that (9:9), but Stanojevic secured the win for Radnicki with a goal scored 13 seconds from the end. Zemun’s Ljubenovic was the best scorer with three goals. Rasovic, Stanojevic, Ukropina and Lukic scored two each for Radnicki.
Vojvodina achieved a comfortable win over Nais and remained in 5th place. Crvena Zvezda and Partizan had no problems in the matches against their respective rivals.
Playoffs, quarterfinals (best-of-two): Nais – KVK Radnicki, Zemun – Novi Beograd 011, Partizan – Crvena Zvezda, Vojvodina – Sabac.
1 KVK Radnicki 18 – 51
2 Novi Beograd 18 – 43
3 Crvena Zvezda 18 – 41
4 Sabac 18 – 40
5 Vojvodina 18 – 30
6 Partizan 18 – 27
7 Zemun 18 – 16
8 Nais 18 – 11
9 Stari Grad 18 – 5
10 Banjica 18 – 1
2020/21 Croatian League, playoffs
Quarterfinals (best-of-two)
2nd leg
Jadran S – Mornar 13:11 (3:4, 5:5, 3:1, 2:1) – first match 16:7
Primorje – Solaris postponed – first match 10:9
Jadran Split advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs and joined Jug and Mladost, which secured their spots among the top 4 teams ten days ago.
Jadran beat its local rival Mornar in both games. After a 16:7 victory in the first game, Jadran entered the return match relaxed. The first quarter belonged to Mornar, that led by a goal or two in the second period. Mornar opened the third period with an action goal for 10:8. However, Jadran kept Mornar goalless in the following 14 minutes, while it netted five goals and earned a 13:10 advantage. Rino Buric and Jerko Marinic Kragic led the hosts with three goals each.
The return match Primorje – Solaris has been postponed because several home team players tested positive for coronavirus at the beginning of the week.
Semifinals: Jug – Primorje or Solaris, Mladost – Jadran S
Relegation group (9th – 11th)
Round 3
Zadar 1952 – KPK Korcula 10:14 (3:2, 4:4, 2:4, 1:4)
Final standings
9 KPK 6 – 16
10 Galeb 6 – 10
11 Zadar 6 – 0
2020/21 Montenegrin League, playoffs for 3rd place
1st match
Budva – Cattaro 13:10 (3:3, 3:2, 3:1, 4:4)
For the full statistics and a play-by-play timeline visit Total Waterpolo Arena
2nd match
Cattaro – Budva 7:4 (2:1, 3:0, 2:0, 0:3)
For the full statistics and a play-by-play timeline visit Total Waterpolo Arena
The playoffs for the 3rd place in Montenegro will be completed with the third game, as Cattaro and Budva are tied after two encounters.
Budva and Cattaro were in a neck-and-neck race for almost two periods of the first game. Deep into the second quarter, the score was 5:5. Then Budva produced a 4:1 series and entered the final quarter with a 9:6 lead. Cattaro came close twice in the fourth quarter twice (8:9). Budva responded with two goals and jumped to a safe 11:8 advantage.
Cattaro stunned Budva in the second match. The Kotor-based side’s defense was almost flawless in the first three quarters, while the attack worked well. Cattaro earned a 7:1 lead before the final eight minutes, and Budva couldn’t come back.
The third game is on Tuesday. The final Primorac – Jadran HN begins on April 28 (18:00 CET).
Live score and statistics of the Montenegrin League you can follow on our TOTAL WATERPOLO ARENA
More news about the national water polo competitions in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro.
