Challenger Cup Men: Qualification Round II action gets off to a flyer across the continent

Three lopsided contests and a thriller kicked off Qualification Round II in the men’s Challenger Cup. ENK Zaibas, Branik Maribor and Enka Sport Club all started their respective campaigns with blowaway victories, while Vitoria and Mouscronnois produced a thrilling match where a brilliant finish from the Portuguese earned them all three points.

2025/26 Challenger Cup Men
Qualification Round II
Friday 13 February

Group A (Elektrenai)
EVK Zaibas (LTU) 21-11 Cetus Espoo (FIN)

Though the Finns took the lead, Zaibas responded with seven straight goals in less than eight minutes and the Lithuanians never looked back. Boosted by a couple of veterans from the Balkans, like Marko Jelaca, Marin Vrdoljak and Ivan Krapic, EVK were in full control and built a big win. Vrdoljak led the charge with four goals, Aurimas Jonkus also netted four as Zaibas stopped at 21.

Group B (Maribor)
Branik Maribor (SLO) 34-11 Banja Luka (BIH)

The first five possessions all ended in goals; in 2:20 minutes it stood 3-2. Then the hosts netted three in a row and that kicked off the Slovenian scoring party as they already reached double figures by the end of the opening period, leading 10-4. Maribor didn’t slow down in the following quarters either as they hit 34 in the game, with all field players netting goals; all but two of them scored at least two or more.

Group C (Istanbul)
ENKA Sport Club (TUR) 20-7 Carouge Natation (SUI)

The Swiss stayed close for eight minutes, though the Turks still led 4-3. Then they staged a 5-0 rush in the second period in a span of 4:15 minutes, which practically decided the outcome. ENKA, with two excellent Greek veterans, Christodoulos Kolomvos and Georgios Dervisis, on board and backed by former Hungarian national team goalie Mark Banyai, managed the game well in the second half and, with a 7-1 blast against the tiring rivals, claimed a big win.

Group D (Maribor)
Vitoria Sport Clube (POR) 18-17 RD Mouscronnois (BEL)

The two sides produced a thrilling match with a series of twists and turns and Portuguese joy at the end. The first period already showed that this was going to be a high-scoring encounter as Vitoria took a 5-4 lead with Salvador Lopes’ six-on-five goal with 0:02 on the clock. The Portuguese had a great spell in the second period as they built a massive 9-5 lead, though Charles Canonne pulled one back five seconds before the half-time whistle by burying a penalty.

Aleksandar Radoslavljevic hit two in 30 seconds early in the third to make it 11-6 and Vitoria seemed to keep everything under control. Bence Hegedus’ 6m blast pulled one back for the Belgians, then they killed a six-on-five and, a bit later, added two from action in 37 seconds for 11-9. Another missed extra from Vitoria, followed by a buried penalty by Canonne, lit up the pool.

Miguel Mariani halted Vitoria’s bad run with a fine action goal, but it was temporary as Hegedus hit two more, this time in 28 seconds, to level it at 12-12. The Portuguese wasted another six-on-five while Thomas Deman put one away for the Belgians with 14 seconds to go and Mouscronnois were 12-13 up.

Vitoria were in trouble as they began the fourth with a missed penalty and soon Rostyslav Naumchyk doubled RD’s lead. In the following minutes the Belgians could hold their advantage as they always found a way to score and, with 2:05 to go, they still led 15-17.

An action goal from Joao Costa kept Vitoria in the game and in just 19 seconds they equalised as they forced a penalty and Mariani converted it for 17-17. With 1:13 to go, the Belgians had a six-on-five but missed it, and Rui Ramos’ rocket from the perimeter won the game for the Portuguese as their rivals couldn’t score in the remaining 47 seconds – Vitoria’s 3-0 rush in a span of 58 seconds was the final twist in the plot.

For places 13-18th (Ljubljana)
Welsh Wanderers (GBR) 21-20 Apoel Nicosia (CYP)
Clube Naval Povoense (POR) 8-25 Hapoel Palram Zvulun (ISR)
VK Ljubljana Slovan (SLO) 19-14 West London Penguins (GBR)
Welsh Wanderers 10-20 Hapoel Palram Zvulun
West London Penguins 8-9 Apoel Nicosia
Clube Naval Povoense 10-18 VK Ljubljana Slovan

Teams that haven’t made the second round gathered in Ljubljana to play for the 13th-18th places to gain more international experience.

The tournament began with a thrilling match where Welsh Wanderers were five goals down early in the fourth period against Apoel Nicosia, only to stage a big comeback and, with a fine centre shot from William Bamborough with 0:06 on the clock, they saved the match and sent it to a shootout.

It was a marathon with 20 penalties; then a save in the 10th round from Callum Fookes landed two points for the Welsh.

Apoel bounced back in the evening to win another close match against the other team from the British Isles as they scored the last two goals against the West London Penguins.

It was Hapoel from Israel and hosts Slovan who topped the opening day with two wins in regular time and they are all set to battle for 13th place here.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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