On Saturday 4th of October the new regional Adriatic league will kick off with a big ambition and new system of competition. The finish will be in the beginning of April with a Final four tournament where the champion will be decided. Teams from Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia who were already are competing since 2008, will welcome the top four Serbian clubs in one of the strongest leagues in the game. An ambitious project to make regional club water polo more attractive and market oriented is highlighted with the signing of a partnership with regional broadcaster Arena sport who will transmit over 40 games during the season. With the well-known quality in the pool and a new marketing strategy the regional club water polo is hoping for better days in terms of finance and organisation.
The new system is made in order to include 16 clubs in over 6 months of competition. The clubs are divided in two groups of eight for home-and-away games after which the top and bottom four from both groups will form new groups, for another series of home-and-away rounds with teams joining from other group. After the regular season the best four will go to the Final Four tournament to decide new champion.
The level for the new league is as good as it gets with water polo centers Dubrovnik, Belgrade, Zagreb, Split, Herceg Novi and Kotor all included. It will be a league with no less than 22 European titles from involved clubs under its belt, which is something that can not be matched in the whole of European team sports.
After a dissapointing last season, this year's team of VK Jug Dubrovnik is among the favorites for both the regional league and Croatian championship.
Photograph: facebook.com/VKJug.
Local talents and proved stars of the game are joined by internationals from Canada to Australia to add some more flavour and high level for the audience and fans. Names like Boris Zlokovic, Miho Boskovic, Cosmin Radu, Nikola Janovic, Sandro Sukno, Dusan Mandic, Denis Sefik are just a few of the established stars of the game today. Rising talents are stepping onto the big stage, and everything is to play for in the new league set to bring back the glory from the best water polo region in the world.
Gavril Subotic and Partizan will face Radnicki and Nikola Dedovic, who switched sides this summer, on Sunday.
Photograph: Vojislav Petrovic.
Triglav Regional League
1st round
Saturday, 4 October
Mornar BS (CRO) vs. Jug CO Dubrovnik (CRO) - televised
HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) vs. AVK Branik Maribor (SLO)
OVK POSK (CRO) vs. Budva (MNE)
Primorje EB Rijeka (CRO) vs. Jadran Split (CRO)
Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE) vs. VK Medvescak (CRO)
VK Primorac Kotor (MNE) vs. Vojvodina Novi Sad (SRB)
Sunday, 5 October
Partizan Raiffeisen Belgrade (SRB) vs. VK Radnicki Kon Tiki Kragujevac (SRB) - televised.
Text: Srdjan Tomic.
Pictured top photo: Two-time defending Adriatic league champions Primorje EB Rijeka.
0 commenti:
Posta un commento