The European water polo season has begun, with an action-packed opening day of Champions League qualifications.
There were no easy wins or one-sided matches in Oradea, Tbilisi, and Split, with many games remaining competitive until the very end.
In Oradea, Novi Beograd leads Group A after defeating Strasbourg 15:12. The hosts, Oradea, made a significant comeback in their second match, overcoming Spandau 04 after a penalty shootout, 19:17.
Brescia and A-Polo Sport Management secured important victories to kick off Group B in Tbilisi. Brescia narrowly defeated Sabadell 16:15, while A-Polo triumphed over Budva 19:16.
Panathinaikos edged Jadran 15:14 in the first game in Group C in Split.
2027 Champions League Qualifications, Day 1
GROUP A (ORADEA)
(quarters 2:1, 5:4, 5:4, 3:3)
Novi Beograd: Martinovic 6, Kojic 2, Urosevic 2, Shushiashvili 2, Cuk 1, Dimitrijevic 1, Sulc 1.
Strasbourg: Crippa 4, Stojanovic 3, Gusakov 2, Kujacic 2, Furman 1.
Strasbourg, considered an underdog at the tournament, chased Novi Beograd successfully for most of the match.
The French leveled only once (2:2 early in the second quarter), but they didn’t let Novi Beograd build a big advantage in the first half. Strasbourg and France’s goalkeeper, Hugo Fontani, delivered an excellent performance, posting 10 saves in the first 16 minutes.
Nika Shushiashvili gave Novi Beograd a three-goal lead (8:5) in the 19th minute, but Strasbourg didn’t give in. The French cut their deficit to one goal twice (8:9 and 9:10). Still, they ran out of energy. Novi Beograd, led by Vasilije Martinovic, went on a 4:0 run between the 24th and 27th minute, earning a safe 14:9 lead.
(quarters 3:3, 3:5, 3:2, 6:5, PSO 4:2)
Oradea:Fulea 4, Velkic 3, Gusarov 3, Insinna 2, Vancsik 2, Negrean 1.
Spandau 04: Hofmann 4, D’Souza 3, Boskovic 3, Mar. Tkac 2, Culina 2, Bauer 1.
Oradea collected two points even though it was never ahead of Spandau during regular time.
The Romanians leveled the score twice in the first half (3:3 and 5:5). However, after the second equalizer, Spandau answered strongly, with three straight goals, jumping to 8:5 (15th minute). In the second half, Oradea reduced the gap to one a few times, but Spandau kept control.
In the middle of the fourth period, Marek Tkac scored his second goal -Spandau built a significant 13:9 lead. However, the Berliners couldn’t hold the advantage. They led 15:13 with 63 seconds to go. But the Romanians scored the last two goals in regular time. Gusarov leveled at 15:15 with 14 seconds left, and the game went into a shootout, where one save by Lazar Dobozanov (Oradea) made the difference.
GROUP B (TBILISI)
(quarters 4:3, 5:5, 4:2, 3:5)
Brescia:Ferrero 4, Popadic 3, Leinweber 3, De Simone 3, Giri 2, Del Basso 1.
Sabaell: F. Valera 5, Perez 2, Saboya 2, Larsen 2, R. Valera 1, Carrio 1, Cabanas 1.
The duel between the teams with Euro Cup trophies in their treasuries was an even contest, but Sabadell never took the lead. Moreover, the Spaniards equalized only once – 1:1.
Brescia controlled the result and stretched the margin to three (7:4) in the 11th minute. But Sabadell managed to come back and reduce the gap before the end of the first half (8:9).
Vlado Popadic (Brescia) Photo: VPK Primorac
The Italians continued dictating the pace in the second half and increased their lead to four goals (12:8 and 13:9). Shortly after the last break, the Spaniards came close to their rival (12:13). Sabadell managed to respond well, but it wasn’t enough. Shortly after the last break, the Spaniards came close to their rival (12:13). For the rest of the match, the teams traded goals. Sabadell missed a few chances to catch up with Brescia. The last one was a man-up attack with 28 seconds to go- Cabanas attempted to equalize, but the ball went too high.
(quarters 4:4, 4:5, 5:3, 6:4)
A-Polo: Draskovic 6, Vuksanovic 3, M. Gardasevic 2, Alekseev 2, Sladovic 2, Tkeshelashvili 1, Bitadze 1, F.Gardasevic 1, Moskov 1.
Budva: Djurdjic 4, Stanojevic 3, Dragovic 3, S.Cetkovic 3, Mrsic 1, Biljaka 1, Franeta 1.
A-Polo Sport Management, which has five Montenegrins on its roster (including the top scorer Vuk Draskovic), earned the points in its Champions League debut by beating Budva, the runner-up in the Montenegrin Championships.
In the first half, the teams exchanged goals, but Budva was in front for most of the time (A-Polo took only an opening 1:0 lead). The Montenegrin team opened the second half well, taking a 2-goal lead for the first time (10:8 and 11:9). But after Budva’s 11th goal, A-Polo netted three in a row, turning a 2-goal deficit into a 12:11 lead. The Montenegrins leveled at 12:12, but Vuk Draskovic closed the third quarter with an action goal, 13:12.
Budva couldn’t equalize again, but the game remained open until the end. Vuk Draskovic scored his sixth goal, making it 18:15 with 77 seconds left, confirming that the hosts would secure three points.
GROUP C (SPLIT)
(quarters 4:4, 2:3, 3:4, 5:4)
Jadran: Matkovic 4, Butic 2, Pejkovic 2, Zovic 2, Skejic 2, Seman 1, Radan 1.
Panathinaikos: Nikolaidis 4, Kalogeropoulos 3, Kopelaidis 3, Chalyvopoulos 2, Skoumpakis 1, Gkiouvetsis 1,Kourovanis 1.
In March, Jadran and Panathinaikos met in the Euro Cup quarterfinals. Jadran emerged victorious after two thrillers (winning 11:10 in Athens and securing a 19:19 draw at home).
But since then, several excellent players have left Jadran, and Panathinaikos has strengthened its squad with big reinforcements. The Greeks entered today’s game as the favorites, but they had to dig deep to win three points.
The first quarter saw a few lead changes, and the teams were tied at 4:4 after the first eight minutes. By the middle of the second period, Panathinaikos’s newcomers, Kalogeropoulos and Nikolaidis, gave their team a 2-goal lead (6:4), but Jadran halved the gap and trailed 6:7 before the third period. However, unfortunately for the hosts, the start of the third period mirrored the previous one. Panathinaikos played strongly in defense, keeping Jadran goalless for more than four minutes. The Greeks were also without a goal for a while, but they scored two in 42 seconds midway through the quarter, going to 10:7.
The Greeks had an 11:9 advantage after three quarters, and the fourth period followed a similar pattern to the previous two. The visitors netted two unanswered goals in the first four minutes and doubled the difference to 13:9. Four goals separated the rivals with three minutes remaining (14:10). Jadran then started a new pursuit. At 00:34, Matkovic made it 13:14, but Chalyvopoulos responded in Panathinaikos’s final possession. Zvonimir Butic set the final score in the dying seconds.
Honved bye
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