The water polo season in Germany has started with the national cup.
The Final Four of the German Cup was held in Berlin this weekend. There were no surprises in the semifinals. The best German clubs Waspo 98 Hannover and Spandau 04, advanced to the final. Hannover recorded an 18:14 victory in the gold-medal match and won its 6th German Cup.
2021 German Cup, Final Four, Berlin
Semifinals
Spandau 04 – Ludwigsburg 21:5 (6: 1, 7:0, 3: 1, 5:3)
ASC Duisburg – Waspo 98 Hannover 8:11 (2:3, 3:2, 1:2, 2:4)
3rd-place match
SV Ludwigsburg – ASC Duisburg 9:12 (0:2, 3:4, 4:4, 2:2)
FINAL
Spandau 04 – Waspo 98 Hannover 14:18 (3:4, 3:3,6:7,2:4)
Spandau 04: Kholod 5, Cuk 2, Strelezkij 2, Nikolaidis 2, Bozic 1, Jungling 1, Dedovic 1.
Waspo 98: Radovic 3, Muslim 3, Kubisch 3, Da.Brguljan 2, Nagaev 2, Corusic 1, Macan 1, Real 1, M.Brguljan 1, Schutze 1.
Spandau 04 beat Ludwigsburg with ease in the first semifinals. Hannover started slowly in the game against ASC Duisburg. A minute before the end of the third period, the score was 6:6. Hannover earned a 7:6 advantage before the final quarter and controlled the match in the last eight minutes.
The gold-medal match was the highest-scoring final in the history of the German Cup (established in 1972). Spandau started better, and took an opening 1:0 and 2:1 lead. However, Hannover led for most of the time. Spandau, the 2020 German Cup winner, equalized several times during the second and third quarter, but it didn’t go in front. In the 22nd minute, Spandau leveled the score for the last time (11:11). Both teams fought hard in the remaining time. In the middle of the fourth quarter, Hannover water polo players built a 3-goal lead for the first time (16:13) and the trophy was on their horizon. Kholod gave Spandau the last hope with a goal for 14:16. However, experienced Hannover’s aces Petar Muslim and Aleksandar Radovic closed the game scoring a goal each in the last two minutes.
This is the sixth German Cup for Hannover since 1998, and the fourth trophy in this competition in the last five seasons. Spandau won the 2020 Cup.
By winning the Cup, Hannover continued a very successful year. In 2021, Waspo won the German Championship, the Super Cup and played at the LEN Champions League F8.
All winners: Spandau 31 trophies, Waspo Hannover 6, ASC Duisburg 4, Rote Erde Hamm 4, Wurzburg 05 1, Cannstatt 1, Bayer 08 Uerdingen 1, Delphin Wuppertal 1.
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