Montenegrin Clubs Shine at Dubrovnik Tournament
Jadran U14 team, Photo: Vuk Ilić
Montenegrin water polo clubs excelled at the prestigious “Tomo Udovicic” junior tournament (U12 and U14), returning from Dubrovnik with three medals and one fourth place finish.
In the U12 category, Jadran from Herceg Novi emerged victorious, defeating Zagreb’s Mladost 8:6 in the final.
Aleksa Čurović contributed three goals in the final, with Aleksa Ivović and Uroš Sijerković adding two each, and Marko Pavlović scoring once.
Jadran previously triumphed over Split Jadran B (14:2), Novi Belgrade (13:2), Budućnost (7:3), and Šabac (6:3), eventually defeating Primorac 11:8 in a thrilling Montenegrin derby during the semi-finals.
Young athletes from Kotor fell short against Italy’s Lazio, losing 10:8 in the third place match. Prior to that, Primorac outperformed Galatasaray 9:3, Jadran Split 9:4, Zemun 12:3, and KPK 6:3 en route to the semi-finals.
In the U14 competition, Jadran reached the final but faced a setback against Šabac, who claimed a 14:11 victory.
The Jadran U14 team won against the Spanish Terasa (12:3), the Italian Orizonte (9:5), the Greek Aris (8:4), the Dubrovnik Jug (9:4), and Euskadiko from Spain (9:3). They also overcame Budućnost 11:7 in the semi-finals, while Medveščak won 13:7 in the fight for third place.
On their journey to the medal, the Podgorica team defeated Barcelona B (11:6), Dinamo Bucharest (12:6), and Galeb (11:0), played Lazio to a draw (7:7), and won against Roma (9:7) in the quarterfinals.
Three young players from Jadran received individual accolades: Uroš Sijerković was named the best player in the U12 category, Stefan Vraneš earned honors in U14, and Mateja Kišić was recognized as the best U12 goalkeeper.
The “Tomo Udovicic” tournament, regarded as the premier event in Europe for U12 and U14 players, featured teams from Budućnost, Primorje, Budva, and Aquatic Verde, who had the top scorer in the U14 tournament, Luka Cerović, with 36 goals.
Featuring 64 teams from Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Romania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the tournament saw 212 matches played over five days.
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