Contents

2022–23 LEN Challenger Cup

Sports season

2022–23 LEN Challenger Cup
League	LEN Challenger Cup
Sport	Water Polo
Duration	11 November 2022 – 29 April 2023
Number of games	35
Number of teams	15(from 11 countries)
Finals champions	GS Apollon Smyrnis (1st title)
Runners-up	CN Terrassa
LEN Challenger Cup seasons
2023–24 →

The 2022–23 LEN Challenger Cup was the inaugural 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. GS Apollon Smyrnis of Greece became the first champions, defeating CN Terrassa of Spain in the final.^[1][2]

Creation[edit]

In June 2022, LEN announced the introduction of the LEN Challenger Cup. This tournament was designed to help developing countries and club grow and play more European club games.^[3][4]

Format[edit]

Fifteen teams, who had been eliminated from the Champions League and Euro Cup, were divided into three groups of four and one group of three. The groups were held in one country. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams advanced to the Knockout Stage. In the Knockout Stage, the ties were played in a home and away format.

Composition of teams[edit]

(CL: Eliminated in Champions League; EC: Eliminated in Euro Cup).

Participating teams

VK Banja Luka (CL)	VK Invictum Sarajevo (CL)	SK KVIK Kastrup (CL)	SV Ludwigsburg 08 (EC)
GS Apollon Smyrnis (EC)	NC Ydraikos (EC)	ASA Tel Aviv (CL)	ZPC Het Ravijn (CL)
KVP Nováky (CL)	SKP Kosice (EC)	Triglav Kranj (EC)	CN Terrassa (EC)
Tenerife Echeyde (EC)	Enka Istanbul (CL)	Galatasaray (CL)

Schedule[edit]

Rounds and dates[edit]

Draw[edit]

The draw took place on the 26th of October.^[5]

Group Stage[edit]

Group A[edit]

• 11–13 November 2022, Novaky, Slovakia.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TEN	GAL	YDR	NOV
1	Tenerife Echeyde	3	3	0	0	40	30	+10	9	Knockout Stage		—	15–11	—	—
2	Galatasaray	3	2	0	1	42	30	+12	6			—	—	—	—
3	NC Ydraikos	3	1	0	2	44	49	−5	3			11–14	15–18	—	—
4	KVP Nováky (H)	3	0	0	3	33	44	−11	0			9–12	6–13	18–19	—

11 November 2022 17:00	[1]	NC Ydraikos	11–14	Tenerife Echeyde	Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Ralf Mueller (GER), Ghislain Dehon (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 3–4, 2–3, 2–2
		Suzuki3	Goals	Magana4

11 November 2022 18:30	[2]	KVP Nováky	6–13	Galatasaray	Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Lukasz Krol (POL), Blaz Radonjic (SLO)
		Score by quarters: 0–1, 1–3, 2–4, 3–5
		Tasaj2	Goals	Destici5

12 November 2022 17:00	[3]	NC Ydraikos	15–18	Galatasaray	Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Ralf Mueller (GER), Lukasz Krol (POL)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 3–3, 3–8, 5–3
		Rompopoulos7	Goals	Senemoglu5

12 November 2022 18:30	[4]	KVP Nováky	9–12	Tenerife Echeyde	Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Ghislain Dehon (FRA), Blaz Radonjic (SLO)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–1, 3–5, 1–3
		Bielik3	Goals	Lifante4

13 November 2022 09:30	[5]	Tenerife Echeyde	15–11	Galatasaray	Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Ralf Mueller (GER), Blaz Radonjic (SLO)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 5–3, 6–3, 2–2
		Lifante, Lopez4	Goals	Destici4

13 November 2022 11:00	[6]	KVP Nováky	18–19	NC Ydraikos	Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Lukasz Krol (POL), Ghislain Dehon (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 4–5, 3–5, 7–5, 4–4
		Zatovic5	Goals	Rompopoulos7

Group B[edit]

• 12–13 November 2022, Terrassa, Spain.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TER	HET	ASA
1	CN Terrassa (H)	2	2	0	0	28	17	+11	6	Knockout Stage		—	16–13	12–4
2	ZPC Het Ravijn	2	1	0	1	26	20	+6	3			—	—	—
3	ASA Tel Aviv	2	0	0	2	8	26	−18	0			—	4–14	—

12 November 2022 10:00	[7]	CN Terrassa	12–4	ASA Tel Aviv	Terrassa, Spain Referees: Karel Dvoracek (CZE), Alexandros Chatzigoulas (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 2–0, 4–1, 4–2, 2–1
		Baches4	Goals	four players1

12 November 2022 18:00	[8]	CN Terrassa	16–13	ZPC Het Ravijn	Terrassa, Spain Referees: Robert Prelovsky (SVK), Karel Dvoracek (CZE)
		Score by quarters: 6–3, 3–3, 4–3, 3–4
		Baches5	Goals	Gottmaker3

13 November 2022 10:30	[9]	ASA Tel Aviv	4–14	ZPC Het Ravijn	Terrassa, Spain Referees: Robert Prelovsky (SVK), Alexandros Chatzigoulas (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 1–6, 1–4, 1–2, 1–2
		Schlein2	Goals	Wouters5

Group C[edit]

• 11–13 November 2022, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ESK	KOS	SAR	BAN
1	Enka Istanbul	3	3	0	0	74	22	+52	9	Knockout Stage		—	22–10	19–6	33–6
2	SKP Kosice	3	2	0	1	59	36	+23	6			—	—	21–6	28–8
3	VK Invictum Sarajevo (H)	3	1	0	2	29	52	−23	3			—	—	—	17–12
4	VK Banja Luka	3	0	0	3	26	78	−52	0			—	—	—	—

11 November 2022 19:00	[10]	VK Invictum Sarajevo	17–12	VK Banja Luka	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Referees: Oriol Jaumandreu (ESP), Tomas Kaseta (LTU)
		Score by quarters: 7–5, 3–2, 4–3, 3–2
		Hadzic7	Goals	Djugum, Cosic3

11 November 2022 21:00	[11]	Enka Istanbul	22–10	SKP Kosice	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Referees: Martin Sand Kristensen (DEN), Maxim Gerasimov (GBR)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 6–5, 6–2, 4–1
		Baskaya, Obradovic4	Goals	Motyl4

12 November 2022 18:00	[12]	VK Invictum Sarajevo	6–19	Enka Istanbul	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Referees: Maxim Gerasimov (GBR), Tomas Kaseta (LTU)
		Score by quarters: 1–7, 0–3, 2–5, 3–4
		Hadzic2	Goals	Alkan, Kaner4

12 November 2022 20:00	[13]	SKP Kosice	28–8	VK Banja Luka	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Referees: Oriol Jaumandreu (ESP), Martin Sand Kristensen (DEN)
		Score by quarters: 7–1, 4–3, 7–1, 10–0
		Orem6	Goals	Ganic3

13 November 2022 09:00	[14]	Enka Istanbul	33–6	VK Banja Luka	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Referees: Martin Sand Kristensen (DEN), Tomas Kaseta (LTU)
		Score by quarters: 9–1, 4–1, 11–2, 9–2
		Albayrak, Duzenli7	Goals	Kojcinovic, Vujkovic2

13 November 2022 11:00	[15]	VK Invictum Sarajevo	6–21	SKP Kosice	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Referees: Oriol Jaumandreu (ESP), Maxim Gerasimov (GBR)
		Score by quarters: 4–5, 2–7, 0–5, 0–4
		Hadzic2	Goals	Dily, Orem4

Group D[edit]

• 11–13 November 2022, Kranj, Slovenia.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		APO	LUD	KRA	KAS
1	GS Apollon Smyrnis	3	3	0	0	68	20	+48	9	Knockout Stage		—	11–10	—	37–4
2	SV Ludwigsburg 08	3	2	0	1	41	28	+13	6			—	—	—	—
3	Triglav Kranj (H)	3	1	0	2	30	42	−12	3			6–20	11–13	—	13–9
4	SK KVIK Kastrup	3	0	0	3	19	68	−49	0			—	6–18	—	—

11 November 2022 18:30	[16]	GS Apollon Smyrnis	11–10	SV Ludwigsburg 08	Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Robert Horvath (SVK), Eurico Silva (POR)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 2–2, 2–5, 2–1
		Hernandez4	Goals	four players2

11 November 2022 20:15	[17]	Triglav Kranj	13–9	SK KVIK Kastrup	Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Alper Ozerengin (TUR), Sander Ransjean (NED)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 3–4, 3–3, 4–1
		Troppan5	Goals	Koska5

12 November 2022 18:00	[18]	GS Apollon Smyrnis	37–4	SK KVIK Kastrup	Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Eurico Silva (POR), Sander Ransjean (NED)
		Score by quarters: 8–1, 11–2, 9–2, 9–0
		Myrilos9	Goals	Koska2

12 November 2022 20:15	[19]	Triglav Kranj	11–13	SV Ludwigsburg 08	Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Alper Ozerengin (TUR), Robert Horvath (SVK)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 0–5, 4–1, 4–5
		Justin4	Goals	Hernandez4

13 November 2022 10:00	[20]	SK KVIK Kastrup	6–18	SV Ludwigsburg 08	Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Eurico Silva (POR), Alper Ozerengin (TUR)
		Score by quarters: 1–5, 2–2, 2–4, 2–7
		Lange4	Goals	Andelic, Dzaja3

13 November 2022 11:45	[21]	Triglav Kranj	6–20	GS Apollon Smyrnis	Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Robert Horvath (SVK), Sander Ransjean (NED)
		Score by quarters: 5–4, 1–5, 0–5, 0–6
		Justin, Lah2	Goals	Bogdanovic, Goniotakis Korderas4

Knockout Stage[edit]

The draw for the Knockout Stage was made on the 20 November 2022.^[6]

Bracket[edit]

	Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Tenerife Echeyde	22	13	35
	SKP Kosice	8	8	16
							Tenerife Echeyde	11	8	19
							GS Apollon Smyrnis	10	18	28
	GS Apollon Smyrnis	9	16	25
	Galatasaray	5	8	13
													GS Apollon Smyrnis	12	18	30
													CN Terrassa	11	14	25
	CN Terrassa	16	15	31
	Ludwigsburg 08	7	12	19
							CN Terrassa	15	12	27
							Enka Istanbul	12	8	20
	Enka Istanbul	14	15	29
	ZPC Het Ravijn	8	16	24

Quarter-Finals[edit]

25 January 2023 20:15	[22]	Tenerife Echeyde	22–8	SKP Kosice	Tenerife, Spain Referees: Erkan Turkkan (TUR), Philip Uhlig (GER)
		Score by quarters: 4–1, 8–1, 3–2, 7–4
		Lifante7	Goals	three players2

8 February 2023 20:00	[23]	SKP Kosice	8–13	Tenerife Echeyde	Kosice, Slovakia Referees: Spyridon Achladiotis (GRE), Tomi Kavcic (SLO)
		Score by quarters: 0–2, 3–3, 2–5, 4–3
		Haluska, Muzhychuk3	Goals	Lopez5

Tenerife Echeyde won 35–16 on aggregate

25 January 2023 20:00	[24]	GS Apollon Smyrnis	9–5	Galatasaray	Athens, Greece Referees: Sander Ransjean (NED), Vuk Milovic (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–0, 2–1, 3–4, 1–0
		Gardikas3	Goals	Colak, Destici2

18 February 2023 20:15	[25]	Galatasaray	8–16	GS Apollon Smyrnis	Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Mihai George Balanescu (ROU), Boris Obradovic (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 1–4, 2–2, 1–5, 4–5
		Acar3	Goals	Bogdanovic4

GS Apollon Smyrnis won 25–13 on aggregate

24 January 2023 19:30	[26]	SV Ludwigsburg 08	7–16	CN Terrassa	Ludwigsburg, Germany
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 2–3, 1–4, 2–5
		Bauer3	Goals	Alarcon Tevar4

8 February 2023 20:00	[27]	CN Terrassa	15–12	SV Ludwigsburg 08	Terrassa, Spain Referees: Haldun Toygarli (TUR), Rajmund Fodor (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 4–3, 6–3, 2–3
		Baches, Martinez4	Goals	Blazevic, Hernandez3

CN Terrassa won 31–19 on aggregate

25 January 2023 18:30	[28]	Enka Istanbul	14–8	ZPC Het Ravijn	Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Julien Bourges (FRA), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
		Score by quarters: 3–0, 4–4, 2–2, 5–2
		Obradovic6	Goals	Muller, Wouters3

8 February 2023 18:00	[29]	ZPC Het Ravijn	16–15	Enka Istanbul	Het Ravijn, Netherlands Referees: Luca Castagnola (ITA), Alex Marquez (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 5–3, 3–4, 3–3, 5–5
		Loos6	Goals	Obradovic5

Enka Istanbul won 29–24 on aggregate

Semi-Finals[edit]

1 March 2023 20:15	[30]	Tenerife Echeyde	11–10	GS Apollon Smyrnis	Tenerife, Spain Referees: Daniele Bianco (ITA), Hajmund Fodor (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 3–1, 4–3, 3–3
		Lifante, Lopez4	Goals	Gardikas5

22 March 2023 20:00	[31]	GS Apollon Smyrnis	18–8	Tenerife Echeyde	Athens, Greece Referees: Peter de Jong (NED), Veselin Miskovic (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 6–1, 3–3, 5–2, 4–2
		Bogdanovic, Gardikas4	Goals	Magana3

GS Apollon Smyrnis won 28–19 on aggregate

1 March 2023 20:00	[32]	CN Terrassa	15–12	Enka Istanbul	Terrassa, Spain Referees: Andreja Stanojevic (SRB), Gernot Haentschel (GER)
		Score by quarters: 5–1, 4–6, 2–3, 4–2
		Fernandez5	Goals	Ozbek3

22 March 2023 18:30	[33]	Enka Istanbul	8–10	CN Terrassa	Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Gabor Vogel (HUN), Julien Bourges (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 2–2, 3–3, 1–2
		Obradovic, Ozbek3	Goals	Fernandez5

CN Terrassa won 25–20 on aggregate

Final[edit]

19 April 2023 19:45	[34]	GS Apollon Smyrnis	12–11	CN Terrassa	Athens, Greece Referees: Tamas Kovacs-Csatlos (HUN), Julien Bourges (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–4, 4–2, 2–3
		Bogdanovic, Gardikas4	Goals	Fernandez, Tevar3

29 April 2023 18:00	[35]	CN Terrassa	14–18	GS Apollon Smyrnis	Terrassa, Spain Referees: Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Andreja Stanojevic (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 4–4, 4–7, 3–3
		Baches4	Goals	Vickovic5

GS Apollon Smyrnis won 30–25 on aggregate

2022–23 LEN Challenger Cup Champions
GS Apollon Smyrnis 1st title

See also[edit]

• 2022–23 LEN Champions League
• 2022–23 LEN Euro Cup
• 2022–23 Women's Champions League
• 2022–23 Women's LEN Euro Cup
• 2022 LEN Super Cup
• 2022 Women's LEN Super Cup

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Detailed report on the LEN Challenger Cup
• Total Water Polo report on the LEN Challenger Cup