Courtesy: LEN
Spanish, Greek and Italian teams dominated the qualification round in the women’s Euro League: the three nations grabbed 10 of the 12 qualifying spots. The three Greek sides claimed third places respectively, two came at the expense of the two bigger casualties of this round, Verona (ITA) and BVSC (HUN).
Final rankings
Group A (Athens): 1. Dynamo Uralochka (RUS) 12, 2. CN Terrassa (ESP) 9, 3. NC Glyfada (GRE) 6, 4. Vetrocar CSS Verona (ITA) 3, 5. ASA Tel Aviv (ISR) 0
Group B (Roma): 1. SIS Roma (ITA) 15, 2. CN Mediterrani (ESP) 12, 3. FTC-Telekom (HUN) 9, 4. Lille UC (FRA) 6, 5. ZVL 1886 Center (NED) 3, 6. Sirens Malta (MLT) 0
Group C (Berlin): 1. Plebiscito Padova (ITA) 13, 2. CN Mataro (ESP) 12, 3. NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) 10, 4. BVC-Zuglo (HUN) 6, 5. Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) 1, 6. Olympic Nice (FRA) 1
Group D (Porto): 1. Astralpool Sabadell (ESP) 12, 2. Ekipe Orizzonte (ITA) 9, 3. Ethnikos Piraeus (GRE) 6, 4. Olympia Kosice (SVK) 3, 5. CA Pacense (POR) 0
The top three ranked teams advanced from each group.
Spanish sides all cleared the first hurdle at the kick-off of the women’s competition: Sabadell finished atop in its group, the others, Mediterrani, Mataro and Terrassa all settled for the runner-up positions. Sabadell, five-times champion between 2011 and 2019, breezed through the field in Porto, they set a scoring record for this round by netting 34 against the hosts, Judith Forca had 9 goals in that game. On the closing day in the showdown of the weekend, they soundly beat Orizzonte, it finished 11-7 after the Spaniards stormed a 6-0 lead in the first half.
The only Russian side in this round, Dynamo Uralochka also did a clean job, just like SIS Roma, both won their respective groups with a perfect record. Group C saw the tightest battles among the top three, Padova edged out Mataro and drew with Vouliagmeni to clinch the top spot. Thus, three Italian went through – two as group-winners –, only Verona fell short as they lost a tight match (11-12) to Glyfada.
Besides the four Spanish, and three Italian and Greek clubs, a Hungarian and a Russian will join the four top-seeded teams of Olympiacos (GRE), Dunaujvaros (HUN), UVSE (HUN) and Kinef Kirishi (RUS).
The draw for the preliminary round will be published on Monday noon, together with the men’s Euro Cup semi-finals.
