League round shrouded in sorrow
Today, on Saturday, December 21st, Croatia is in mourning. The nation mourns the loss of a young life in the tragedy at the Prečko Elementary School in Zagreb, where several other people were also injured.
Due to these reasons, all matches of the 5th and 6th round of the Croatian Young Junior Championship have been postponed, while only matches of the regional leagues, Premier and A1, will be played, as the competition system simply could not tolerate delays. However, both matches of the Premier League, which are also being played in Croatia (Primorje EB - Red Star and Mladost - Jug Adriatic Insurance) will be played in an atmosphere of mourning. Both matches will start with a minute of silence, without any music or any entertaining content before, during, and after the matches.
For this reason, we will approach the announcement of the matches a little differently. Without detailed approaches, details, statements, or previews.
In Rijeka, the hosts will welcome opponents from Belgrade. As we have learned from the Primorje EB team, the whole team is complete, they played a preparatory friendly match in Zagreb against Mladost during the week, and they are ready to face a strong guest.
In Zagreb, the derby, the water polo classic between Mladost and Jug, is scheduled for Saturday evening. The Dubrovnik team came to Zagreb without Joković, Kržić, and Prkoča, while Mladost's team is complete.
These two matches are also the last in the Premier League in this year, 2024.
On Saturday, the 8th round match of the A1 League, group A or West, is scheduled. In Budva, the hosts of the same name will welcome Zadar 1952. The people from Budva are still second to last on the table, with only one point more than Branik. The players from Zadar are far stronger in personnel, quality, and experience, so it is not unrealistic to expect a full point success from Zadar.
The last match of this year in the A1 League will be played on Sunday in Slovenia, between Branik and KPK. A similar story as the approach to the match in Budva. It would be big news if the Slovenian team manages to surprise the team from Korčula and secure all three points.
