Wikipedia

2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup

For the equivalent women's tournament, see 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup.

The 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup was the 2nd edition of a water polo competition organised by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). It acts as the third tier, below the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. The reigning champions are GS Apollon Smyrnis, but they won't defend their title due to their involvement in this season's Champions League and Euro Cup.

2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup
LeagueLEN Challenger Cup
SportWater polo
Duration19 October 2023 – 27 April 2024
Number of games50
Number of teams19
Finals championsTurkey Galatasaray (1st title)
  Runners-upSlovenia Triglav Kranj
LEN Challenger Cup seasons

Galatasaray won the competition, beating Slovenian side, Triglav Kranj, in the final. They become the first men's water polo team from Turkey to win a European title.[1]

Format edit

This is the first season under the new changes made by LEN.[2] 19 teams are grouped into 4 pools, three with five clubs, and one with four clubs. The pools are held by one of the clubs. The top 2 from every pool advances to the quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and finals.

Rankings edit

Only teams below the top 12 can enter the competition.

Rank[3] Association Points Teams
NR   Belgium 0 1
NR   Bulgaria 0
NR   Cyprus 0 1
NR   Finland 0
NR   Great Britain 0 2

Teams edit

The team were announced on 8 September 2023.[4] Starting this season, no countries ranked in the top 12 of the LEN men's club rankings can take part in this tournament.

Participating teams
  Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois   VK Banja Luka   KVT Komodor   APOEL Nicosia
  Cetus Espoo   Polytechnic Water Polo Club   City Of Manchester Water Polo Club   EVK Zaibas
  Valletta[a]   Vitoria Sport Clube   Clube Fluvial Portuense   Sporting Clube De Portugal
  KVP Novaky   Triglav Kranj   SC Kreuzlingen   Carouge Natation
  Galatasaray   ODTU Sport Club   Enka Istanbul
  1. ^ Valletta is actually the Maltese national team, but is playing under the name Valletta.[5]

Schedule edit

Rounds and dates edit

Phase Round Round date
Qualification round 19–22 October 2023
Quarter-finals First leg 25 November 2023
Second leg 9 December 2023
Semi-finals First leg 9 March 2024
Second leg 23 March 2024
Final First leg 6 April 2024
Second leg 27 April 2024

Qualification round edit

Draw edit

The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups.[6][7][8][9] Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows:

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5

  Vitoria Sport Clube
  Galatasaray (H)
  Enka Istanbul
  Carouge Natation

  Triglav Kranj
  VK Banja Luka
  KVP Novaky
  EVK Zaibas

  Valletta (H)
  ODTU Sport Club
  Clube Fluvial Portuense (H)
  Sporting Clube De Portugal

  SC Kreuzlingen
  Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H)
  KVT Komodor
  Polytechnic Water Polo Club

  City Of Manchester Water Polo Club
  Cetus Espoo
  APOEL Nicosia

Group A edit

Held in Porto, Portugal

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   KRE   TRI   VIT   FLU   APO
1   SC Kreuzlingen 4 4 0 0 0 59 36 +23 12 Quarter-finals — 10–9 — — —
2   Triglav Kranj 4 2 0 0 2 47 34 +13 6[a] — — 10–8 — 18–5
3   Vitoria Sport Clube 4 2 0 0 2 48 45 +3 6[a] 10–12 — — — 18–14
4   Clube Fluvial Portuense (H) 4 2 0 0 2 39 51 −12 6[a] 8–21 11–10 9–12 — 11–8
5   APOEL Nicosia 4 0 0 0 4 36 63 −27 0 9–16 — — — —
Source: Report
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head goal difference: Triglav Kranj +1, Vitoria Sport Clube +1, Clube Fluvial Portuense –2. Head-to-head result: Triglav Kranj 10–8 Vitoria Sport Clube.

Group B edit

Held in Mouscron, Belgium

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   CAR   DAU   MAN   ODT   BAN
1   Carouge Natation 4 3 1 0 0 59 34 +25 11 Quarter-finals — — 11–10 20–9 20–7
2   Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H) 4 3 0 1 0 69 36 +33 10 11–12[a] — 16–14 20–7 25–7
3   City Of Manchester Water Polo Club 4 2 0 0 2 60 42 +18 6 — — — — —
4   ODTU Sport Club 4 1 0 0 3 45 69 −24 3 — — 8–13 — 21–16
5   VK Banja Luka 4 0 0 0 4 37 89 −52 0 — — 7–23 — —
Source: Report
(H) Host
  1. ^ Match ended 8–8, Carouge Natation won 4–3 on penalties

Group C edit

Held in Istanbul, Turkey

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   GAL   NOV   POL   SPO
1   Galatasaray (H) 3 3 0 0 0 58 21 +37 9 Quarter-finals — 14–7 17–8 27–6
2   KVP Novaky 3 2 0 0 1 33 28 +5 6 — — — 15–6
3   Polytechnic Water Polo Club 3 1 0 0 2 25 32 −7 3 — 8–11 — —
4   Sporting Clube De Portugal 3 0 0 0 3 16 51 −35 0 — — 4–9 —
Source: Report
(H) Host

Group D edit

Held in Valletta, Malta

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   ZAI   VAL   ENK   CET   KOM
1   EVK Zaibas 4 3 0 0 1 64 35 +29 9[a] Quarter-finals — — 8–11 22–8 —
2   Valletta (H) 4 3 0 0 1 67 33 +34 9[a] 11–15 — 14–10 21–5 21–3
3   Enka Istanbul 4 3 0 0 1 68 26 +42 9[a] — — — 22–1 25–3
4   Cetus Espoo 4 1 0 0 3 36 74 −38 3 — — — — 22–9
5   KVT Komodor 4 0 0 0 4 20 87 −67 0 5–19 — — — —
Source: Report
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head goal difference: EVK Zaibas +1, Valletta 0, Enka Istanbul –1.

Knockout stage edit

Draw edit

The draw took place on 24 October in Barcelona.[12] The seeded and unseeded clubs consist of the teams that finished first and second in the previous round respectively. The only restriction was that clubs from the same group in the previous round could not be drawn against each other.

Seeded Unseeded

  SC Kreuzlingen
  Carouge Natation
  Galatasaray
  EVK Zaibas

  Triglav Kranj
  Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois
  KVP Novaky
  Valletta

Bracket edit

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
  Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois 7 7 14
  EVK Zaibas 17 18 35
  EVK Zaibas 8 9 17
  Galatasaray 9 12 21
  Valletta 6 12 18
  Galatasaray 10 15 25
  Galatasaray 14 19 33
  Triglav Kranj 6 13 19
  Triglav Kranj 17 12 29
  Carouge Natation 7 14 21
  Triglav Kranj 11 10 21
  SC Kreuzlingen 10 10 20
  KVP Novaky 15 11 26
  SC Kreuzlingen 14 13 27

Quarter-finals edit

25 November 2023
20:30 		Report Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois   7–17   EVK Zaibas Mouscron, Belgium
Referees:
Peter Radic (SVK), Luis Santos (POR)
Score by quarters: 0–6, 1–1, 2–5, 4–5
Croquet 2 Goals Bakulo 4
9 December 2023
19:00 		Report EVK Zaibas   18–7   Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Referees:
Massimo Castrilli (SUI), Rok Vehovec (SLO)
Score by quarters: 3–4, 5–0, 7–1, 3–2
Bakulo, Jonkus 4 Goals Lukacs 2

EVK Zaibas won 35–14 on aggregate.

25 November 2023
19:00 		Report Valletta   6–10   Galatasaray Gzira, Malta
Referees:
Alessandro Severo (ITA), Tomi Kavcic (SLO)
Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–3, 2–4, 1–1
Galea, Gialanze 2 Goals Caner 3
9 December 2023
17:30 		Report Galatasaray   15–12   Valletta Istanbul, Turkey
Referees:
Erik Kolar (SVK), Philip Uhlig (GER)
Score by quarters: 4–2, 3–2, 4–4, 4–4
Caner 4 Goals Cachia, Gialanze 3

Galatasaray won 25–18 on aggregate.

2 December 2023
20:00 		Report Triglav Kranj   17–7   Carouge Natation Kranj, Slovenia
Referees:
Karel Dvoracek (CZE), Erkan Turkkan (TUR)
Score by quarters: 3–1, 6–4, 2–2, 6–0
Lah 4 Goals Blary, Roscio 2
9 December 2023
19:15 		Report Carouge Natation   14–12   Triglav Kranj Carouge, Switzerland
Referees:
Radosław Koryzna (POL), Boris Margeta (SLO)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–5, 3–5, 5–0
Blary 7 Goals Justin 4

Triglav Kranj won 29–21 on aggregate.

25 November 2023
19:00 		Report KVP Novaky   15–14   SC Kreuzlingen Novaky, Slovakia
Referees:
Massimo Angileri (MLT), Nerijus Papaurelis (LTU)
Score by quarters: 2–2, 3–4, 6–2, 4–6
Mihal, Tisaj 4 Goals Geiser, Pleyer 3
9 December 2023
20:00 		Report SC Kreuzlingen   13–11   KVP Novaky Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
Score by quarters: 2–1, 2–1, 3–4, 6–5
Pleyer 6 Goals Bielik 3

SC Kreuzlingen won 27–26 on aggregate.

Semi-finals edit

9 March 2024
19:00 		Report EVK Zaibas   8–9   Galatasaray Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Referees:
Rik Evers (NED), Gernot Haentschel (GER)
Score by quarters: 0–3, 2–2, 5–2, 1–2
Gostautas, Pumputis 2 Goals Acar, Naipoglu 2
23 March 2024
19:00 		Report Galatasaray   12–9   EVK Zaibas Istanbul, Turkey
Referees:
Daniele Bianco (ITA), Tomislav Copic (CRO)
Score by quarters: 4–1, 3–1, 3–5, 2–2
Krstic 4 Goals Jelača 5

Galatasaray won 21–17 on aggregate

9 March 2024
18:00 		Report Triglav Kranj   11–10   SC Kreuzlingen Kranj, Slovenia
Referees:
Rajmund Fodor (HUN), Jakov Blaskovic (CRO)
Score by quarters: 3–1, 2–2, 3–3, 3–4
Paunovic 3 Goals Pleyer 3
23 March 2024
20:00 		Report SC Kreuzlingen   10–10   Triglav Kranj Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
Referees:
David Gomez (ESP), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE)
Score by quarters: 3–0, 4–3, 2–3, 1–4
Herzog, Pleyer 4 Goals Cerar, Troppan 3

Triglav Kranj won 21–20 on aggregate

Final edit

6 April 2024
18:00 		Report Galatasaray   14–6   Triglav Kranj Istanbul, Turkey
Referees:
Rik Evers (NED), Sinisa Matijasevic (MNE)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 5–2, 3–1, 3–1
Destici 5 Goals Justin 2
27 April 2024
20:00 		Report Triglav Kranj   13–19   Galatasaray Kranj, Slovenia
Referees:
Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Hendrik Schopp (GER)
Score by quarters: 3–5, 3–2, 3–5, 4–7
Rajlic, Stromajer 3 Goals Naipoglu 4

Galatasaray won 33–19 on aggregate


2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup Champions
 
Galatasaray
First title

See also edit

External links edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Galatasaray lands historical cup win - European Aquatics®". www.len.eu. April 27, 2024.
  2. ^ "Big changes in European water polo club competitions - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. June 2, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "Men Clubs Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  4. ^ Curcic, Ivan (September 8, 2023). "36 teams in Men's LEN Euro Cup; new format will be applied".
  5. ^ Curcic, Ivan (October 20, 2023). "Great day for Swiss tandem".
  6. ^ "Draws for Euro Cup and Challenger Cup - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "LEN Qualifying Round Draws: 2023/2024 Euro Cup Men, Challenger Cup Men and Women - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 11, 2023.
  8. ^ Curcic, Ivan (September 11, 2023). "Plenty of national clashes in Euro Cup qualifications; Vasas starts title defense from Budapest".
  9. ^ "Water-Polo : Les Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois retrouvent l'Europe". RTBF.
  10. ^ "Men Club Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  11. ^ "Men Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  12. ^ "Water Polo Challenger Cup Men and Women: draw and changes - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. October 23, 2023.
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