It was a fantastic weekend with outstanding battles but only eight teams remained standing after the preliminary round in the Euro League. In terms of participation and qualifying, two Greek teams out of 4 made the quarters, Hungary was 3/2, Russia 2/2, while Spain and Italy closed somewhat painful days as only one Spanish team out of 4 survived this round, and one Italian out of 3. All four teams from last season’s Final Four made the quarters, the biggest casualty is perhaps Italy’s Orizzonte, the most decorated club in history with 8 titles – the Italians bowed out without a win.
For detailed results and stats, click
here http://len.microplustiming.com/leneuroleaguewomen/indexCL_web.php?cal=1
Group E (Sabadell): 1.
Astralpool-Sabadell (ESP) 6, 2. Dunaujvarosi Foiskola (HUN) 6, 3. CN Mataro
(ESP) 6, 4. FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 0. Three-way tie: Sabadell +2,
Dunaujvaros +1, Mataro –3
Group F (Athens): 1. Olympiacos
Piraeus (GRE) 9, 2. Ethnikos Piraeus (GRE) 6, 3. CN Terrassa (ESP) 3, 4. SIS
Roma (ITA) 0
Group G (Budapest): 1. UVSE Budapest
(HUN) 7, 2. Dynamo Uralochka Zlatoust (RUS) 6, 3. Vouliagmeni NC (GRE) 3, 4.
Orizzonte Catania (ITA) 1
Group H (Padova): 1. Plebiscito
Padova (ITA) 7, 2. Kinef Kirishi (RUS) 5, 3. CN Mediterrani (ESP) 4, 4. NC
Glyfada (GRE) 0
The ‘Spanish-Hungarian’ quartet in
Sabadell saw one club from each nation going through though it was open till
the last moment which Spanish side would make the cut. Five-time winner
Sabadell beat both Hungarian sides with ease in the first two rounds while last
season’s runner-up Dunaujvaros offered a brilliant performance while crushing
Mataro on the opening day. The Hungarians needed a win against fellow
Ferencvaros to secure their place in the best eight which they delivered. Then
came the Spanish derby where Mataro needed a four-goal win to oust Sabadell –
and even if it looked like a mission impossible, they came close in the third
period twice when took a 4-7, then a 6-9 lead. With 3:00 minutes to go, it was
still 8-10 but after that only Sabadell scored, once, and that sent them
through in the first place.
In Group F the Greek sides advanced
‘hand in hand’: both Piraeus based teams claimed victories on the first two
days before title-holder Olympiacos downed Ethnikos on Sunday to finish first.
Ethnikos pipped Terrassa for the second place by beating the Spaniards in a
thriller. Being down 4-6 late in the third, the Greeks netted three in a row
before the last break, though Terrassa equalised in the fourth, Ethnikos
managed to score the winner 77 seconds from time.
Group G featured two teams of last
season’s Final Four and both UVSE and Uralochka went through at the expense of
Vouliagmeni and Orizzonte. The Hungarians won a brilliant match against the
Russians, trailed 10-11 before the last period but three unanswered goals
secured their first place. Uralochka beat Orizzonte 15-8 in a surprisingly
lopsided match, and after the loss to UVSE they had a do-or-die encounter with
the Greeks. In the third, Vouliagmeni jumped to a 6-10 lead, and they still were
9-11 up in the fourth but the Russians staged a brilliant 3-0 surge, netting
the winner 38 seconds before the end.
Goalie Anna Karnaukh was the hero of
LEN Trophy-winner and former champion Kinef Kirishi – she netted the equaliser
against Mediterrani 15 seconds from time when the Russians went for a 7 on 6 in
their last possession. As it turned out, that sent Kinef through as they also
drew with Padova on the last day. Padova saved the day for Italy as they
managed to clinch the first place in the group while the other two Italians
sides finished the weekend without a win.
The draw for the quarter-finals will
be held in Athens on 18 December, on the occasion of the women’s Super Cup
final between Olympiacos and Kinef Kirishi. Winners of the QF will play in the
Final Four while the losing sides will clash for the LEN Trophy.
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