Vojvodina Water Polo Players Secure Convincing Spot in Challenger Cup Final Tournament
This year, Serbia will once again have a representative at the final tournament of the LEN Challenger Cup, as the Vojvodina water polo team secured their place in the final round with three victories at the qualifying tournament in Novi Sad. The other teams competing for the European trophy are Zagreb's Mladost, Galatasaray, and Izmir from Turkey. Last year, Izmir defeated Red Star Belgrade 10-9 in the final.
Following victories over German team from Bochum and the Zagreb Mladost, Slađana Drezgić's team also easily defeated Portugal's Benfica with a score of 13-11 in the third round. Benfica somewhat kept up in the first half, which ended 6-5 for the home team. However, Vojvodina pulled ahead in the continuation, leading 10-6, later extending to 12-7, deciding the outcome.
Jovana Radonjić, Milica Moćan, and Jennifer Pereira Cavalcante each scored three goals for the winning team. The other players included Travar, Švec, Pantović 1, Pejić, Trmčić 1, Amilaeva 1, Popov, Šavčenko, Damnjanović 1, and Đurić.
Joining Novi Sad's team at the final tournament will be the water polo teams from Mladost, Izmir, and Galatasaray. The defending champion is Izmir, who defeated Red Star Belgrade last year 10-9 in the final.
This season, Vojvodina's squad includes Nikolina Travar, Anja Švec, Jovana Pantović, Tara Žagar, Iva Kovačević, Jana Pejić, Aleksandra Trmčić, Irina Amilaeva, Jennifer Pereira Cavalcante, Milana Popov, Julija Šavčenko, Isidora Damnjanović, Jovana Radonjić, Milica Moćan, Vanja Đurić, Natalija Čorda, and Luna Stanišić.
There haven't been significant changes in the roster compared to the previous season. Experienced player Jovana Pantović returned from a "retirement," former Red Star player and national team member Jovana Radonjić joined as a significant reinforcement, and Jennifer Pereira Cavalcante arrived from abroad. Missing from the team this year are Russian player Milana Hamzaeva and Lolita Avdić, who left abroad after not playing last year due to injury.
