The past sports weekend was marked by the “Boban Damjanović” Memorial, Crvenka’s handball defeat, and a win for Hajduk’s basketball team.

On Saturday, a memorial football tournament, “Boban Damjanović,” was held in Sivac, organized by Football Club Polet in memory of the late former Polet player Boban Damjanović. Twelve teams of boys born in 2013 took part in the memorial tournament, representing the very best of Vojvodina football in that age group. Tournament matches began on Saturday at 9, and the “Boban” Memorial was officially opened at 11. After Željko Varagić, Polet’s secretary, greeted all the participants, the tournament was opened by Kula Municipality President Damjan Miljanić. Then, on behalf of the Damjanović family, Boban’s daughter Dunja thanked the organizers and all the participants. The twelve participating teams were divided into three groups. After the group stage came the knockout round, in which losing teams were eliminated. Following the knockout matches, Novi Sad’s Vojvodina and hosts Polet from Sivac met in the final. The young Vojvodina players proved stronger, beating Polet 3:1 to win the first “Boban Damjanović” Memorial tournament, while Polet had to settle for second place. In the third-place match, Vrbas defeated Mladost from Apatin 1:0. The four top teams received trophies and medals. The awards were presented by the late Boban Damjanović’s daughters, Dunja and Vanja, and the organizers provided sandwiches, sweets and juice for all participants. Everyone also received a T-shirt bearing Boban Damjanović’s image. Alongside the top teams, the best individual players were also recognized at the “Boban” Memorial. Polet’s goalkeeper Jušković was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper, Polet player Rebić was also the top scorer, and Milanović, a member of the winning team Vojvodina from Novi Sad, was named the tournament’s best player.

The local government gave its wholehearted support to the organization of the first “Boban Damjanović” Memorial Tournament.

Sivac’s handball players delighted their supporters by winning away in Smederevo in the second round of the Super B League, beating Smederevo 25:24, after leading 13:12 at halftime. Sivac have thus made an excellent start to the season: they were away in the first two rounds and collected three points from those two matches. After an opening-round draw in Inđija, Branko Žeželj’s team found the strength to win in Smederevo, a particularly significant result because Sivac were without several of their best players: top scorer Marko Čabaj, center back Nenad Slavuljica and Petar Šajin were absent due to work commitments; Milan Šajin and Džabasan were injured, while pivot Klasan is gradually coming out of isolation. Sivac coach Branko Žeželj praised his players’ solid defensive performance: they imposed their rhythm, controlled the score and had a three-goal lead in the 41 minute, when they went ahead 18:15. However, the hosts fought their way back into the match and drew level in the 46 minute. Then, in a back-and-forth exchange of goals, Sivac’s handball players kept their nerve and secured the win with a goal by Beslać in the final minute. Kalis and Vemić were Sivac’s top scorers, with seven goals each.

Our other representative in the Super B League, Crvenka’s handball players, having won their opening home match, visited league newcomers Sinđelić in Belgrade in the second round. Crvenka suffered a defeat away, with Sinđelić beating them 29:27, at half-time 12:12. In the first half, Crvenka’s defense looked good at times, and the half ended with neither team ahead. In the second half, Crvenka’s own mistakes allowed Sinđelić to take a five-goal lead, going up 23:18, but Crvenka managed to come back and level at 25:25. Then several more technical errors followed, which Sinđelić took advantage of to secure the win. Simply put, the more aggressive team, the one that wanted the win more, prevailed. Perović was Crvenka’s top scorer with 8 goals.

After two rounds of the championship in the Super B League, Sivac 69 are fourth in the table with 3 points earned, while Crvenka are fifth with 2. In the third round, Sivac 69 host Kolubara, while Crvenka host Apatin.

Like the handball players, the women’s team from Sivac also had a successful weekend. The women’s handball club “Krule” drew 27:27 away to Jadran in Feketić in the third round of the First League. Jadran’s home players were leading 50. minute by 25:22, but the Krule players found the strength to come back and deservedly claim their first point in the First League. Milica Rabrenović was Krule’s top scorer with 10 goals. Our other First League representative, Laki from Crvenka, recorded its third defeat. Laki lost 30:23 away to Proleter in Zrenjanin. It was clear who would take the points after the first half, which Proleter won 18:7. Anželi Lovre was Laki’s top scorer with 9 goals. After three rounds, Krule is eighth with one point, while Laki is eleventh with no points. In the next round, Krule hosts Proleter from Zrenjanin in Sivac, while Laki travels to Mokrin.

Hajduk’s footballers played away against Kikinda in the eighth round of the Serbian League, Vojvodina Group, where they lost to the hosts 3:1, half-time 1:1. It was Hajduk’s fourth consecutive defeat. They took the lead through a goal by Vlaisavljević, but Kikinda equalised in stoppage time at the end of the first half. The hosts scored two more goals in the second half to record a win. It must be noted that Hajduk simply lack players. Both Manojlović players and Matijević have left the club, and with the goalkeepers suspended and Šušnjar absent because of the coronavirus, it seems little more could have been done. Hajduk are currently twelfth in the table with 7 points, and will host leaders Bečej in Kula in the next round.

All three football teams from the municipality of Kula competing in the Sombor District League were successful in the eighth round of the championship, recording victories. Former top-flight side Crvenka beat Radnički away in Sombor 5:2, half-time 3:0. Milan Subotić and Popović scored two goals each for Crvenka, while Marko Kerekeš scored one. Rusin from Ruski Krstur also celebrated an away win. In their visit to Mladenovo, Rusin defeated hosts Budućnost 1:0 with a goal by Aleksandar Kočiš in the second minute. Lipar’s footballers recorded their first win only in the eighth round. At home, Lipar beat Borac from Bački Gračac 4:1, half-time 2:0. Nestorović scored from the penalty spot for Lipar, along with Basarić, Novaković and Šegan. Rusin are fifth in the table with 15 points, Crvenka are thirteenth with 6, and Lipar are fourteenth with 4 points. In the next round, Rusin host league leaders Bratstvo from Prigrevica in Ruski Krstur, Crvenka will host Vojvodina from Tovariševo, while Lipar travel to Radnički in Ratkovo.

The derby of the seventh round of the Sombor Inter-Municipal League First Division was played yesterday at Geder in Kula, where the home team defeated the league leaders, Aleksa Šantić, 1:0. Anđelković scored the winning goal. With this victory, Kula enabled another club from our municipality, Sivac’s Polet, to take the lead. Polet won 2:1 away to Dinamo in Bački Breg, with both goals for the Sivac team scored by Željko Rašković. Our third representative, Mladost from Kruščić, suffered a heavy defeat away in Odžaci. OFK Odžaci beat Mladost 8:0. Sivac’s Polet is top of the table with 16 points, Kula is fourth with 15, while Mladost is eleventh with 7 points. In the next round, Polet hosts OFK Odžaci in Sivac, Mladost hosts Omladinac from Bukovac in Kruščić, and Kula travels to Dunav in Bački Monoštor.

Hajduk’s basketball players made a successful start to the championship season in the Northern Group of the Republic League. In their opening match, played in front of their home fans, Hajduk defeated Sveti Đorđe from Žitište 73:65, even though the visitors had won the first half 39:38. However, a brilliant performance in the third quarter, which they won 22:10, secured victory for Hajduk. Suvajdžić with 22 points and Tešović with 18 points were Hajduk’s top scorers. In the next round, Hajduk travels to Topola in Bačka Topola.

In the fourth round of the Vojvodina First League, Hajduk’s bowlers beat Dunav from Bačka Palanka 5:3 on points, or 3190:3153 in total pinfall, playing as the home team in Vrbas. Marko Eraković with 550, Mirko Bakić with 547 and Vladimir Trišić with 527 pins scored points for Hajduk, while Kula secured two points for knocking down more pins overall. Hajduk’s bowlers are currently third in the table with 6 points and a game in hand, and next round they visit Golubinci.

Đ. Bojanić