Challenger Cup Women: VK Jadran Split among the big winners on opening day of Qualification Round II

There were big wins for VK Jadran Split, San Giljan ASC, Nevsehir Belediye SK, SSV Esslingen and Goztepe Sport Klub on the opening day of the Challenger Cup Women Qualification Round II, which got underway in Izmir, Türkiye, and Cottonera, Malta, on Thursday night.

2025/26 Challenger Cup Women
Qualification Round II, Day 4
Thursday 5 March

Group A
(Cottonera, Malta)

Clube Fluvial Portuense (POR) 7-14 SSV Esslingen (GER)
San Giljan ASC (MLT) 17-12 ZVK Crvena Zvezda (SRB)

Group B
(Izmir, Türkiye)

Goztepe Sport Klub (TUR) 27-16 Sirens ASC (MLT)
Dalton Koleji SK (TUR) 6-11 Nevsehir Belediye SK (TUR)
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 16-11 London Otter (GBR)

Group A

Clube Fluvial Portuense (POR) 7-14 SSV Esslingen (GER)

SSV Esslingen dominated the early exchanges against Clube Fluvial Portuense, starting brightly to race into a 1-4 lead in the opening quarter.

The Germans’ momentum was briefly halted in the second period as the Portuguese rallied, but Esslingen still held a three-goal cushion at half-time (3-6).

Esslingen struck twice at the start of the third and began to really pull away after moving 5-9 ahead, adding the final three goals of the quarter to open up a seven-goal advantage heading into the last eight minutes (5-12).

With the points effectively secured, Esslingen could afford to ease off a little in the fourth, and their lead remained at seven at the finish.

Jamie-Julique Haas, Kleopatra Ntona Tsiaka and Iva Gronih led the scoring for the Germans with three goals apiece.

San Giljan ASC (MLT) 17-12 ZVK Crvena Zvezda (SRB)

San Giljan ASC captain Elena Borg delivered a superb performance against ZVK Crvena Zvezda, scoring nine goals to help steer her side to an opening-day victory.

The Maltese outfit were in control from the outset, moving 5-2 ahead by the end of the first quarter and stretching their advantage to five by half-time (10-5).

By the interval, Borg had already struck four times, and she added five more after the break in a second half that proved to be a far more even contest.

Despite naming only nine players in their squad – compared with San Giljan’s 11 – Crvena Zvezda began to mount a response in the third quarter.

Their defence restricted their opponents to just two goals, while they matched that total at the other end.

Ten goals followed in an entertaining fourth period, five for each side, but the outcome was never in doubt.

Group B

Goztepe Sport Klub (TUR) 27-16 Sirens ASC (MLT)

Goztepe Sport Kulubu and Sirens ASC served up a 43-goal thriller packed with attacking quality, but it was the Turkish side who held the upper hand from the beginning.

Thirteen goals flew in during a frenetic opening eight minutes, with Goztepe scoring eight of them to establish a three-goal lead by the first break (8-5).

The end-to-end action continued in the second period, again edged by the hosts (5-4). But after 13-10 early in the third, Goztepe effectively took the game away from Sirens with a five-goal burst.

They won the penultimate quarter 7-2 to move nine clear (20-11) and kept their foot on the gas in the fourth, taking that period 7-5 to seal an 11-goal victory.

Emma Wright top scored for Goztepe with eight goals, while Hanzade Dabbag and captain Kubra Kus were close behind with five apiece.

Samantha Rezende (six goals) and Martha Perici (five goals) led the resistance for Sirens, but it wasn’t enough to trouble the result.

Dalton Koleji SK (TUR) 6-11 Nevsehir Belediye SK (TUR)

The Turkish derby saw Nevsehir Belediye SK recover from a 3-2 half-time deficit to claim a five-goal victory over Dalton Koleji SK.

Dalton edged a tight first half, but the hosts faded after the long break, as Nevsehir produced a powerful second-half display to take control of the contest.

Milana Molnar led the scoring for Nevsehir with six goals, while Alena Serzhantova added four and Betul Berra Haltas chipped in with one.

VK Jadran Split (CRO) 16-11 London Otter (GBR)

VK Jadran Split’s sharpshooters Neli Jankovic and Lara Srhoj combined for 12 goals – eight from Jankovic and four from Srhoj – as the Croats proved too strong for London Otter.

The British side were a tough nut to crack, however, and kept themselves in the contest during the first half, trailing by only two goals at the end of both the opening (3-1) and second quarter (5-3).

Jadran finally broke Otter’s resistance early in the third, scoring four unanswered goals to move six clear heading into the final period (12-6).

After extending their lead to 13-6, Otter mounted one last push, striking four times without reply to cut the deficit to three (13-10) with 2:52 remaining.

Jankovic halted the surge with the next goal and, when she soon added her eighth of the night before Srhoj struck her fourth, any hopes of a British comeback were extinguished.

Sarah Snyder led the scoring for the Londoners with four goals, while Kathy Rogers and Philippa Danielson both added two.

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Andy Rollé for European Aquatics

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