Kranj has hosted City Games for the third year in a row and made once again spectacle out of it. The last event before the international part of City Games was Slovenian final where the best six teams from challenger competed. Traditional battle between Maribor and Velenje was on and they for sure proved their quality. But Maribor was last night stronger. For the second time in a row this year they took every possible points and easily win with 65 points in their account. Velenje took silver with 46 points, while Kranj, ZS Gladiatorji deserved bronze medals with 31 points.
Like we supposed, Maribor and Velenje really was much better than others. Maribor won all of the six games, Velenje was second in five of them. And it was quite tight result in some of them but obviously Maribor was a bit more concentrated and calmly changed the lead into the final victory.
In flying water polo Maribor set their personal record with 445 points, Velenje won 416 points and Kranj, Kranjski orli, which showed much better performance than in challenger, 332 points. Just the same result was in tourist rescuing, where first three teams came within seven seconds and Maribor again was the fastest. Even the women part of Maribor´s team which leaded the barrel race, came out as the strongest, finishing their task in 1:15. Velenje finished in 1:24 and Ajdovščina in the third place in 1:48.
Water alka was played very well by all of the teams and still ended with win of Maribor. They collected 16 points, Velenje in the second place 14 points and Kranj, ZS Gladiatorji 11. The most spectacular game of the day was water basket and direct competition between big rivals. Maribor overcome Velenje for only 2 seconds and both of the team heated spectators with their excellent performance. Kranj, ZS Gladiatorji stayed more than 35 seconds behind. It was a great battle for the third place in total between both teams from Kranj. The home team, Kranjski orli, could overcome the other team if they have won the paddle, but Štajerske vijolice played it perfectly again and made impressive result, winning in all of the games.
Maribor is the last international semi-finalist and will compete in the second semi-final in Biograd na Moru on Saturday, 26.8. They will play there with Serbia, Macedonia and Hungary and will fight for the first two places that leads to the final.
Maribor, Štajerske vijolice: ˝We had some troubles making the final team because of some cancellation, but in the end we found one very strong player that perfectly filled the gap. We came here to have fun and we for sure did that. Our team is together for three years now, we know the games, the tactic and we know how to work as a team. This was today the key to success, we won in every game and that is just fantastic achievement. In the international semi-final we will enjoy, especially at the seaside, but we will for sure give our best.˝
RESULTS:
1st place: MARIBOR, Štajerske vijolice – 65 points (yellow)
2nd place: VELENJE, Velenje – 46 points (orange)
3rd place: KRANJ, ZS Gladiatorji – 31 points (red)
4th place: KRANJ, Kranjski orli – 28 points (blue)
5th place: AJDOVŠČINA, Ajdovščina – 16 points (green)
6th place: DUPLEK, Dupleška mornarica – 9 points (dark blue)
Photo: Jan Mastrović
