Weekend sports roundup

Another eventful sports weekend is behind us, highlighted by Hajduk’s footballers’ defeat, Crvenka’s footballers’ third consecutive win, the Open Sivac Tennis Championship, and the great success of Hajduk Karate Club’s youngest members at the Serbian Championships.

Hajduk's footballers lost 3:2 to Dinamo in Pančevo in round 18 of the Serbian League, Vojvodina Group; the halftime score was 2:1 in Hajduk's favor. Hajduk made a brilliant start to the match and, with two goals by Matijašević in the first fifteen minutes, took a 2:0 lead. Later in the first half, Kaluđerović scored an own goal to reduce the deficit, so the Kula side went into the break one goal ahead. In the second half, Hajduk coach Željko Račić had to make several substitutions forced by injuries, which affected the team's play. Dinamo equalized after an hour, then scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 97 minute of stoppage time. Hajduk head coach Željko Račić says they prepared very well for the match and identified all the home side's weaknesses. Although they went into the match severely weakened, without Potkozarac, Radmanović and Šušnjar, they started brilliantly and took a 2:0 lead. However, a series of unfortunate events that befell Hajduk, starting with the own goal and followed by injuries to three players, particularly the forced substitutions of the central defenders, led to the home side's eventual victory. But all that is part of football, Račić says, adding that his players must forget the match in Pančevo as soon as possible and focus on their next opponent. Hajduk are still bottom of the table with 14 points, and will host Stari Grad from Bačka Palanka in the next round.

Crvenka’s footballers continued their successful spring run in the Sombor District League. In the 18 round of the league, Crvenka beat Polet from Karavukovo 3:2 at home, recording their third consecutive win. Although the visitors took the lead, Crvenka turned the score around in two minutes with goals from Milan Subotić from the penalty spot and Čvokić, going ahead 2:1. Late in the first half, after an unsteady intervention by Crvenka goalkeeper Jokić, the visitors equalized, and the teams went into the break at 2:2. In the second half, both Crvenka and Polet sought to claim all three points, but Crvenka got lucky and secured the win in stoppage time with a goal from Miloš Kerekeš. In the round’s top match in Ratkovo, home side Radnički, third in the league, hosted Rusin from Ruski Krstur, who were fourth in the standings and had won their previous two matches. The home side ended Rusin’s streak, winning 1:0. Rusin coach Zlatko Sajanković said it had been a very physical match with plenty of fouls and few chances. Unfortunately, Radnički took one of their chances in the 75 minute, while Rusin failed to convert some of their half-chances, resulting in a narrow defeat. Our third district-league side, Lipar, hosted Budućnost from Parage at home, and the match ended goalless. Lipar coach Mirko Kovač said his team had not played at full strength, which was evident in the absence of attacks down the wings; both teams had a couple of chances but failed to take them, the officiating was fair, and the final result was realistic. After eighteen rounds, Rusin are fourth in the standings with 34 points, Lipar are twelfth with 21, and Crvenka are fourteenth with 18 points. The next round features a municipal derby, with Rusin and Crvenka meeting in Ruski Krstur, while Lipar travel to face Budućnost in Gložan.

In the 15th round of the Sombor Intermunicipal League First Division, Kula defeated Zadrugar from Srpski Miletić 1:0 at the Geder ground. Anđelković scored the goal worth three points for Kula. Sivac’s Polet visited Aleksa Šantić and returned with a point after the match ended in a 1:1 draw, with the halftime score 1:0 in Polet’s favor; Vladimir Pejanović scored the goal. Mladost from Kruščić also brought home a point, drawing 2:2 with Dunav in Bački Monoštor. Dunav won the first half 1:0, but in the second half, goals from Holovati and Kilić junior turned the score around for Mladost. However, in stoppage time, Dinamo scored to make it 2:2. Kula are currently third in the table with 34 points, Polet are fifth with 28, and Mladost are ninth with 17. In the next round, Polet will host Dunav from Bački Monoštor in Sivac, Mladost will host Omladinac from Deronje in Kruščić, and Kula will face BSK in Bački Brestovac.

In the fourth round of the Serbian First Regional League playoffs, Hajduk’s basketball team recorded its fourth consecutive win away in Inđija, beating Železničar 81:78, with Hajduk leading 41:38 at halftime. Hajduk made the trip severely weakened, without captain Škrbić, reliable Koprivica, or Cvetićanin and Lješević, making the win all the more valuable. Hajduk coach Danilo Borović says his team led throughout, and alongside the two points earned, it is also significant that two young players, seventeen-year-olds Mandić and Krivokapić, each played 35 minutes. Đurović and Suvajdžić were the key contributors to Hajduk’s win in Inđija. Hajduk is currently second in the standings with seven wins and three losses, and will travel to Srbobran in the next playoff round.

Super League handball teams Crvenka and Sivac 69 did not compete for points last weekend, but the women’s teams were in action, as the 15th round of the First League championship was played. The young Crvenka handball players, Laki, defeated Mokrin 33:25 in front of their home fans in a bottom-of-the-table clash, with the halftime score 18:9. The result shows that the match was effectively decided by halftime. Marija Ivić was Laki’s top scorer with 8 goals. Our other First League team, Sivac’s Krule, lost 30:29 away to Proleter in Zrenjanin, despite leading 18:14 at halftime. In the 45th minute, Krule led 25:20, but then their performance dipped. Proleter scored a run of 7:0 in seven minutes, took a two-goal lead, and went on to win in a goal-for-goal finish. Aleksandra Jelenković was Krule’s top scorer with 8 goals. Krule are currently ninth in the table with 9, while Laki are eleventh with 6 points. The next round features a municipal derby, with Krule and Laki meeting in Sivac.

Hajduk’s volleyball team suffered another defeat in their match in round 19 of the Second League. Kula’s team travelled to Novi Sad, where they lost 3:0 to Dunav Volley, with set scores of 25:21, 25:13 and 25:13. Hajduk volleyball coach Milorad Lazić says his players performed well in the first set and led by as many as 3-4 points on several occasions, but allowed the home team to turn the score around and take the set with beginner’s errors in the closing moments. After losing the first set, Hajduk’s players lost confidence, both on serve and reception. The home team took advantage and easily won the next two sets for a final score of 3:0. Hajduk’s men are currently eleventh in the standings with 10 points, and host Srem Iton from Sremska Mitrovica in the next round. In contrast, Hajduk’s women beat Apatin 3:0 in front of their home supporters in round 15 of the First Vojvodina League, with set scores of 25:23, 25:12 and 25:19. Hajduk’s women were better in every aspect of the game; their stronger serve led to better defence and counterattack conversion. Hajduk’s women are eighth in the standings with 7 points. They have a bye in the next round and will use the break to prepare as well as possible for their next opponents, Spartak from Subotica.

In the 20th round of the First Vojvodina League, Hajduk’s bowlers won 7:1 in points and 2871:2520 in total pins against Vrbas, playing at home in Vrbas in a local derby. Points for Hajduk were won by Darko Milović, Milorad Vuksan, Vladimir Trišić, Mirko Bakić and Branko Vuksan, who scored the best result with 564 pins. This win returned Hajduk’s bowlers to the top of the standings, where they lead with 28 points, one point ahead of Kljajićevo. In the next round, they host Novi Sad’s SPENS.

The Open Sivac Tennis Championship for young orange-level male and female players was held in Sivac yesterday. It was for boys and girls up to 10 years of age. Around twenty of the best competitors in this age group from Serbia took part, including members of Tennis Club Sivac, which also hosted the event. The fact that Sivac hosted a competition of this kind confirmed that, alongside handball, Sivac is also well known for tennis.

The young tennis players were also greeted by Damjan Miljanić, president of the Interim Authority of the Municipality of Kula, as the local government recognizes and supports genuine values—and the children who competed yesterday certainly embody them.

After some exciting contests, the top performers in the girls’ competition were Nađa Hegediš of Novi Sad’s SPL Tennis Club and Dragana Vukas of Elite Tennis Club from Inđija. In the boys’ competition, the top performers were Matija Vudragović of Novi Sad’s Meridian and Filip Kovačević of Elite Tennis Club in Inđija.

Once again, the members of Hajduk Karate Club have delighted us. Yesterday in Smederevo, they competed in the Serbian Championships for younger children and hopefuls in the kumite discipline. 19 Hajduk members took part in the competition and are returning to Kula with six medals and three Serbian championship titles. Serbian champions are younger competitors Marko Đisalo, in the under-30 category, and Ilija Ćosić, in the under-40-kilogram category, as well as hopeful Stefan Karapandža, in the over-55-kilogram category. Two silver medals were also won: by Hajduk’s younger female competitor Vanja Jarić in the under-30 category and younger male competitor Sergej Baran in the over-50-kilogram category. Younger competitor David Perduh won third place and a bronze medal at the Serbian Championships in the under-45-kilogram category.

With six medals, including three gold, Karate Club Hajduk are extremely satisfied with their performance at the Serbian Championships and with the level of skill demonstrated by all their members. Nadežda Stefan Karapandža is Serbian champion for the second time, confirming that he is the most promising young fighter in Serbia. Marko Đisalov and Ilija Ćosić were making their debuts at the national championships and won the titles, an achievement few manage, which says a great deal about their talent. Karate Club Hajduk fully expects all six medal winners to be invited to national team training for the upcoming Balkan Championships, which will be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina in June. This exemplary sports club is continuing its intensive training, as new challenges await next weekend: the Serbian Senior Championships on Saturday and the Serbian School Championships on Sunday. Both competitions will be held in Čačak.

Đ. Bojanić