Conference Cup Men: Seven quarter-final tickets secured after dramatic day of action across the continent

Seven of the eight tickets to the quarter-finals of the men’s Conference Cup were decided after an entertaining day of action across Europe on Saturday. The next phase will feature two Greek sides, Panionios GSS and GS Apollon Smyrnis, two Italian teams, CN Posillipo and De Akker Team, one Croatian side, VK Mornar Split, one Hungarian side, Endo Plus Service Honved, and one Spanish side, Solartradex CN Mataro. The remaining spot will be decided in Sunday’s opening game – a straight shootout between Netherlands’ ZV De Zaan and Spain’s CN Tenerife Echeyde.

2025/26 Conference Cup Men
Qualification Round II, Day 5
Saturday 21 February

Group A
(Potsdam, Germany)

VK Partizan Belgrade (SRB) 11-13 Panionios GSS (GRE)
OSC Potsdam (GER) 8-19 GS Apollon Smyrnis (GRE)

The two Greek giants booked their spots in the next round after recording their second successive victories in Potsdam.

The domestic rivals will now face each other in their final game on Sunday to decide who finishes top of the group.

Panionios GSS had the harder task on Saturday, as they had to fight back from 8-6 down midway through the third to claim the three points.

It was an end-to-end battle, with the Greeks opening up a two-goal lead twice in the first half (2-4 and 3-5), but VK Partizan Belgrade scored three in a row to head into half-time 6-5 up.

Andreas Bitsakos – who ended the game with a five-goal haul – equalised from a man-up early in the third, then Kosta Bodiroga and Pavle Papic restored Partizan’s two-goal advantage (8-6).

Panionios’ Alexandros Gounas stepped up, firing in three without reply to wrestle back the lead, and they were never behind again.

Partizan’s Strahinja Neskovic did make it 9-9 late in the third, but Grigorios Kapetanakis’ man-up strike 35 seconds before the buzzer saw the Greeks regain the lead (9-10) ahead of the fourth.

Gounas – who finished with six goals – and Andreas Bitsakos struck first in the last eight minutes to put Panionios three up (9-12), and although Partizan cut the gap by one, they weren’t able to get any closer.

In Group A’s other game, Apollon Smyrnis proved far too strong for the hosts, OSC Potsdam.

The Germans did cause the Greeks a few problems early on, with Arne Hofmann hitting a first-half hat-trick, but Apollon led from the second minute and stayed in front right until the end.

Their advantage kept growing too, as after 4-6 early in the second quarter, the difference in class started to show, with Apollon scoring the last four goals of the half to lead by six at the turnaround (4-10).

The Greeks hammered in five more unanswered goals in the third, before Potsdam’s Marian Kob struck to briefly disrupt their momentum.

At 5-16 heading into the fourth, the game had long been decided, and in the end Apollon stopped at 19, with their USA star Hannes Daube again their stand-out performer.

After hitting nine on Friday, he added five more on Saturday to take his tournament tally to an impressive 14.

Group B
(Split, Croatia)

ZV De Zaan (NED) 17-13 CS Rapid Bucuresti (ROU)
CN Tenerife Echeyde (ESP) 13-18 VK Mornar Split (CRO)

CS Rapid Bucuresti managed to stay close to De Zaan in the opening 16 minutes of their clash, even leading 1-3 in the first quarter, then equalising five times in the second period to level at 9-9 by half-time.

De Zaan finally ended CS Rapid Bucuresti’s resistance with a powerful 5-1 third quarter, which swung the game in the Dutch side’s favour.

Don Rempt opened the scoring in the fourth to open up a five-goal lead (15-10) and from there, De Zaan were comfortably able to close the game out.

The win means the clash with CN Tenerife Echeyde on Sunday will be a winner-takes-all encounter.

Later, the hosts, VK Mornar Split, earned their first three points of the weekend – following their shootout win against the Dutch on Friday – by beating CN Tenerife Echeyde and securing their place in the next round.

The action was similar to De Zaan’s earlier game, as both sides traded blows in an even first half that ended all square at 8-8.

At the start of the third, the Spaniards began to fall behind, with Mornar hitting four without reply to put them in the driving seat.

Tenerife refused to lie down, though, and kept fighting back, and by early in the fourth they had cut the deficit to just one (12-13), but their exertions were beginning to catch up with them.

Mornar – boosted by their home support – still had plenty left in the tank and hammered in five more goals, while the Spaniards could only manage one.

The win puts the Croats top of the group for now, and with De Zaan and Tenerife set to face each other on Sunday, it means whatever the outcomes are on Sunday, Mornar’s spot in the last eight is guaranteed.

Group C
(Montpellier, France)

A-Polo Sport Management (GEO) 12-12 (3-4P) De Akker Team (ITA)
VK Primorje Erste Bank (CRO) 9-10 Endo Plus Service Honved (HUN)
Montpellier Water Polo (FRA) 13-20 A-Polo Sport Management (GEO)
VK Primorje Erste Bank (CRO) 14-17 De Akker Team (ITA)

Endo Plus Service Honved downed VK Primorje Erste Bank to become the first team to book their place in the next round.

It was a majestic performance from the Hungarians, especially in the third quarter, which they won 0-2 despite having to survive six exclusions and earning none at the other end. They also conceded a penalty, but Tin Brubnjak struck the post, allowing Lazar Vickovic to equalise just before the buzzer (7-7).

In the fourth, Nikola Moskov scored twice to put the Hungarians two up (7-9), and although Len Dujmic converted two penalties to tie the scores, Bendeguz Ekler fired in a 6m shot with 0:23 on the clock to win it.

A-Polo’s first game of the day saw them contest a third successive shootout after a thrilling 12-12 draw with De Akker Team.

The Georgians were leading by three at the end of the first quarter, but the Italians quickly turned it around and battled back to take the lead (6-7) late in the second period.

Dragoljub Rogac equalised just before half-time with a fine 6m shot, and the Georgians went two clear twice in the closing stages (10-8 and 11-9).

De Akker never allowed them to get any further ahead, though, and fourth-quarter goals from Francesco Lucci and Matteo Bragantini levelled the scores (12-12) to force a shootout.

A-Polo’s Dmitrii Alekseev saw his effort saved in the first round, then Srdan Vuksanovic struck the post in the fifth to hand the initiative to De Akker, and Balazs Erdely made no mistake to earn his team the two points.

The penalty win opened the door for the Italians to qualify for the last eight with a game to spare if they could beat VK Primorje Erste Bank in Saturday’s final game.

After an entertaining first quarter, which saw 12 goals fly in, six each, De Akker seized control in the second period by shutting their opponents out and firing in four goals at the other end.

In the third, Primorje got back to within two twice (9-11 and 10-12), but the Italians never allowed them to get any nearer, as they kept their rivals at arm’s length for the remaining minutes.

De Akker and Honved will clash on the final day to see who finishes as the group winners, but whatever the result, both sides will be in the quarter-final draw.

Group D
(Naples, Italy)

BVK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 11-9 WPC Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)
Solartradex CN Mataro (ESP) 22-7 Sete Natation (FRA)
CN Posillipo (ITA) 12-4 BVK Crvena Zvezda (SRB)
WPC Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) 9-17 Solartradex CN Mataro (ESP)

Solartradex CN Mataro and CN Posillipo secured the two qualification spots in Group D, with the Spaniards winning both of their games on Saturday, while the Italians downed BVK Crvena Zvezda in their only match.

Firstly, the Spaniards swept Sete Natation aside 22-7 (6-2, 6-2, 6-1, 4-2), dominating the game from start to finish, and then completed the job later against WPC Dinamo Tbilisi with another powerful performance.

Mataro gave the Georgians no chance by storming into a 2-8 lead by half-time, and after that they could afford to take their foot off the gas a little.

Dinamo successfully stemmed the tide in the third, but the result was never in doubt as Mataro still led by five (7-12) heading into the fourth, and the Spaniards won that period 2-5 to finish up comprehensive 9-17 winners.

Earlier, CN Posillipo arrived fresh for their clash with 10-man BVK Crvena Zvezda, who had been pushed to their limits earlier as they edged a fierce contest with Dinamo 11-9 (4-1, 2-4, 3-3, 2-1) in the day’s opening game.

The Italians took the lead early in the first quarter, and although the Serbians went on to equalise three times (1-1, 2-2 and 3-3), they were already fading, and four unanswered Posillipo goals saw them slip 7-3 behind by the turnaround.

Crvena Zvezda were struggling and were completely shut out in the third, as Posillipo fired in four more without reply to take them out of sight at 11-3.

Both sides managed one goal in the last eight minutes, and with the depleted Serbians unable to match their opponents’ energy levels, the Italians cruised to an easy victory.

Posillipo and Mataro will now meet in Sunday’s final Group D clash to decide who finishes as group winners.

Watch all the Conference Cup action live on European Aquatics TV

For full Conference Cup Men results, stats and tables, click here.

Stay tuned to the European Aquatics Water Polo social media accounts for more news and live updates on Facebook and Instagram

The post Conference Cup Men: Seven quarter-final tickets secured after dramatic day of action across the continent first appeared on European Aquatics®.