Courtesy: LEN
Here comes the crème de la crème of women’s water polo: the top eight teams feature the very bests of the world, with a handful of North American aces returning to the Old Continent after the Olympics – making already the quarter-final days true festivals of water polo.
Each match-up should offer thrilling moments – first of all, Olympiacos and Dunaujvaros is to replay last season’s final right away at this stage of the competition. Of course, the line-ups changed significantly, the Greeks got even stronger than the team having beaten its Hungarian rival 7-6 in the final last spring – still, it’s just two games and Dunaujvaros has always been known for causing upsets in crucial matches.
Fellow Piraeus side Ethnikos faces a mountain to climb while clashing with 5-time winner Sabadell. The Spaniards also signed a handful of North Americans including the shiniest US star, three-time Olympic champion Maggie Steffens. After seven consecutive F4 appearances, the Spaniards missed the top flight in the last season – while Ethnikos has never made the cut so far.
In the game of Russia’s Kinef and Hungary’s UVSE, many players face off once more after their national teams’ bronze medal battle in Tokyo. Kinef was the most frequent participant in the F4 in the past one and a half decades, making it 12 times in 14 years after 2005 but after finally winning the trophy in 2017 and 2018, they lost the quarters in the last two editions. UVSE was bronze medallist last time and the Magyars are still seeking their first-ever title in this competition.
The other Russian side, which had upset Kirishi a year ago, Uralochka meets Italy’s Padova. Since the ever-changing travel regulations bar the Russians from entering Italy, the venue(s) and the timing of the matches are yet to be confirmed – according to the latest plans, both legs might be played over one of the coming weekends in the same pool. As for the past, last season Uralochka managed to advance to the finals after a wait of 19 years, while Padova appeared there once so far, in 2019.
Winners of the two legs shall advance to the Euro League Final Four, the losing sides will play for the LEN Trophy.
Fixtures – Quarter-finals, 1st leg
(all times are local)
- 13.00 Kinef Surgutneftegas Kirishi (RUS) vs UVSE Hunguest Hotels (HUN)
- 18.30 Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) vs Dunaujvarosi Foiskola (HUN)
- 20.30 Ethnikos Piraeus (GRE) vs Astralpool-Sabadell (ESP)
- TBC Plebiscito Padova (ITA) vs Dynamo Uralochka (RUS)
Return leg: 26 February
