Favorites open 100th season in Series A with convincing wins (VIDEO)

An opening day of the 100th Italian Championship saw three convincing wins and three encounters with twists and turns.

A legendary Ratko Rudic made his debut as Pro Recco coach. Title-holder had no mercy visiting Bogliasco. Pro Recco quickly earned a 4:0 lead and it had a 7:1 advantage early in the third quarter. The visitors scored seven goals by the end for a 14:3 win. Dusan Mandic and Francesco di Fulvio were the top scorers with 4 goals each. The game in Bogliasco was a debut for Recco’s two reinforcements: Luka Bukic and a goalkeeper Marko Bijac, who was voted the best European water polo player of 2017, by LEN.

Video source: Pro Recco/YouTube

Brescia, which has been the 2nd-best team in Italy for years, also had an easy task. Brescia hosted and defeated Canottieri Naples 16:3.

Sport Management, which will represent Italy in the Champions League as well as Pro Recco and Brescia, demolished Roma, the returnee in Serie A – 15:5. Captain Stefano Luongo and Eduardo Di Somma scored three goals each.

Savona hosted Florentia. The home players found themselves 2:4 down at halftime. Savona goalkeeper Slobodan Soro “locked his net” in the second half of the match and Savona posted a 7:5 win. The hosts won, despite the percentage of their man-up attacks was terrible bad. They converted just 3 of 11 chances.

Newcomer Iren Quinto narrowly defeated Trieste. Quinto had a solid 6:2 lead after the 2nd quarter. Quinto’s Paunovic scored from an extra for 7:3 early in the fourth period. Trieste started climbing back, but it couldn’t secure a draw. Drasko Gogov set the final score (7:6) 28 seconds from the end.

Something similar happened in Naples. Posillipo faced Catania. Posillipo dominated for two quarters and a half. In the middle of the third period, former European champion was 6:0 up! Catania responded with five goals in a row and came to 5:6 with 2:27 remaining on the clock. The visitors didn’t manage to go further. Posillipo’s Rossi found the net in the 31st minute for 7:5. There were no goals until the end and the Naples-based side kept all three points.

100TH SERIE A, 1ST ROUND

BOGLIASCO 4:13 PRO RECCO
(0:2, 1:3, 3:6, 0:2)

Bogliasco Bene: A. Di Somma, M. Guidi, Fracas, Guidaldi.
Pro Recco: Mandic 4, F. Di Fulvio 4, A. Ivovic 2, Bukic, Velotto, Echenique.

BRESCIA 16:3 CANOTTIERI NAPLES
(4:1, 4:0, 2:1, 6:1)

Brescia: C. Presciutti 3, Guerrato 2, Vukcevic 2, Figlioli 2, Rizzo 2, Muslim, Nora, Bertoli, Janovic, Gallo.
Canottieri: Tkac, Campopiano, Borrelli.

ROMA 5:15 SPORT MANAGEMENT
(2:5, 1:5, 0:1, 2:4)

Roma Nuoto: Spione, J. Camilleri, Africano, Innocenzi.
Sport Management: S. Liuongo 3, E. Di Somma 3, Casasola 2, Valentino 2, Damonte, Alesiani, Fondelli, Drasovic, C. Mirarchi.

POSILLIPO 7:5 CATANIA
(1:0, 2:0, 3:2, 1:3)

Posillipo: Marziali 3, G. Mattiello 2, M. Di Martire, Rossi.
Catania: Lucas, Eu. Russo, Scebba, Kacar, Cuccovillo.

SAVONA 7:5 FLORENTIA
(1:1, 1:3, 2:0, 3:1)

Savona: K. Milakovic 2, Colombo 2, L. Bianco, G. Bianco, Piombo.
Florentia: Astiarta 2, Coppoli, Tomasic, A. Di Fulvio.

IREN QUINTO 7:6 TRIESTE
(2:0, 4:2, 0:1, 1:3)

Iren Quinto: Paunovic 2, Lundhout 2, N. Vavic, Mugnaini, F. Brambilla.
Trieste: Petronio 2, Gogov 2, Panerai, Mezzarobba.