The Euro Cup Qualifications continued this evening with ten games across five pools.
The day’s highlights came in Athens and Naples, where the hosts recorded narrow victories.
In the second round of the group in Athens, Apollon defeated Partizan 15:13, after trailing by four goals in the first half (from 1:5 to 4:8).
Former European champion Posillipo opened the tournament in Naples with a hard-fought victory over Dinamo Bucharest. The Italians led 7:4 at halftime. However, in the dying minutes, Dinamo leveled at 12:12, but Posillipo secured a 13:12 win.
Buducnost was the only home team to lose today. BVSC defeated the Podgorica-based team 17:13. Terrassa beat Primorje 15:11 at the same tournament
The remaining six matches were mostly one-sided contests.
2027 Euro Cup Qualifications, Day 2
GROUP A (Aix-en-Provence), Round 1
Galatasaray – Primorac 5:18 (3:6, 1:5,0:2,1:5)
Pays d’Aix – Dinamo Tbilisi 14:9 (4:1, 4:1, 3:2, 3:5)
Neither of the first two matches in Aix-en-Provence offered suspense.
Primorac showed no mercy to Galatasaray, with Balsa Vuckovic, Nemanja Ubovic and Dusan Banicevic each scoring four goals.
Hosts Pays d’Aix dominated the first half, scoring eight goals while conceding just two. Dinamo never managed to threaten the home side’s comfortable lead, with Daihi Ogihara leading the way by scoring five goals.
GROUP B (Athens), Round 2
Savona – ASC Duisburg 11:5 (3:4, 3:0, 3:1, 2:0)
Apollon Smyrnis – Partizan 15:13 (3:6, 4:2, 5:3, 3:2)
Triple Euro Cup winners Savona got off to a poor start in their first official match of the season. ASC Duisburg led for most of the opening quarter and finished it with a 4:3 advantage. However, Savona tightened up defensively over the next three periods, with experienced goalkeeper Marco Del Lungo leading an almost flawless defensive performance.
Partizan, stunned Apollon with an excellent defensive display in the opening quarter. By the sixth minute, the Serbian side had built a four-goal lead at 5:1 and maintained that advantage until 8:4. However, the hosts scored the final three goals of the first half, and Laskaridis extended their run with a counterattack goal in the 17th minute to level the score at 8:8.
Strahinja Neskovic ended Partizan’s eight-minute scoring drought with a long-range strike. Shortly afterward, Partizan moved ahead 11:8, but Apollon responded with a 4:0 run. With just six seconds remaining in the third quarter, Kapotsis gave the hosts their first lead of the match at 12:11. Bogdanovic extended Apollon’s advantage to 13:11 early in the final quarter. The teams traded goals over the remaining six minutes.
Nikola Bogdanovic scored four goals for Apollon, while Ioannis Laskaridis added three. Miljan Djokanovic and Goran Grgurevic were Partizan’s top scorers, finding the net three times each.
Standings: 1. Apollon 6 (2 games), 2. Savona 3 (1), 3. Partizan 3 (2), 4. Sintez 0 (1), 5. ASC Duisburg 0 (2).
GROUP C (Sabac), Round 1
Sabac – White Sharks Hannover 20:4 (5:0, 3:0, 4:2, 8:2)
Jug Dubrovnik – Enka Spor 25:13 (5:2, 8:4, 9:3, 3:4)
Based on what the teams displayed in the opening round of the Sabac tournament, it’s almost certain that the home team and Jug will qualify for the Group Stage.
Sabac kept White Sharks goalless for 20 minutes, and by then it had already scored ten goals. The home side was led by Filip Novakovic, who scored more goals than all White Sharks’ players together – five.
Jug wasn’t as convincing as Sabac, but it secured a big advantage in the early stages of the game. The Croats rushed to a 5:0 lead in the first six minutes. After that it slowed a little bit, but cruised to a 25:13 victory. Newcomer David Tatrai scored five, and Marko Zuvela added four goals for Jug.
GROUP D (Naples), Round 1
Barcelona – Vouliagmeni 17:12 (5:3, 6:1, 4:3, 2:5)
Posillipo – Dinamo Bucharest 13:12 (4:3, 3:1, 2:3, 4:5)
Barcelona dictated the pace throughout the game against a young team of Vouliagmeni. The Spaniards held a 15:6 lead late in the third quarter, then let the Greeks cut the deficit. Van der Weijden, Goma and Daura netted three goals each for Barcelona.
Posillipo was 7:4 up at halftime against Dinamo, but the Romanians, who have several experienced players on their roster (including Cosmin Radu) started coming back. Radu scored the equalizer a minute and a half from the end – 12:12 But, Rocchino responded immediately. Posillipo kept that slim advantage and three big points for the rest of the game. Posillipo’s Balzarini was the top scorer with five goals.
GROUP E (Podgorica), Round 1
Primorje – Terrassa 11:15 (3:4, 2:3, 5:5, 1:3)
BVSC – Buducnost 17:13 (7:7, 4:2, 3:2, 3:2)
Terrassa trailed 2:3 in the middle of the first period of the game against Primorje, but then took control. It went on a 3:0 run for 5:3, and from that point on, they were always in front. Early in the third period, Terrassa built a 4-goal lead (9:5). Primorje halved the gap on two occasions (7:9 and 8:10), but couldn’t come closer. Oscar Blasco contrinuted five goals to Primorje’s win, and Ivan Vukojevic scored five for Primorje.
After 7 goals at each end of the pool in the first eight minutes, BVSC and Buducnost began paying closer attention to their defense. The Hungarians did it better. Early in the second period, they earned a 9:7 lead. BVSC dictated the pace until the end – Buducnost reduced the gap to one twice (8:9 and 10:11), but couldn’t equalize. Balint Ekler, Erik Csacsovszkz and Mor Benedek led the Hungarians scoring four goals each. Buducnost’s veteran Darko Brguljan netted five.
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