Weekend sports roundup

The start of the handball season’s spring half was unsuccessful for the clubs from the Kula municipality, as all four teams suffered defeats.

In the opening round of the spring season in the Super B League, Sivac 69 lost 34:33 at home to Inđija, despite taking the first half 21:16. Although they were without their best player and top scorer, Marko Čabaji, Sivac’s handball players made an excellent start and were six goals up by the seventh minute, leading 7:1. Trading goals, they went into the break with a five-goal lead, which they managed to maintain until the 45 minute, when the score was 27:22 in Sivac’s favour. However, as the match drew to a close, Sivac’s players began to tire, and the determined visitors took advantage, moving into the lead in the 52 minute. To the dismay of Sivac’s supporters, they held on to their narrow advantage to the end and secured a valuable win. Žegarac and Milan Šajin were Sivac’s top scorers, with 9 goals each.

After losing to Inđija, Sivac 69 are eighth in the standings with 11 points.

Our other representative in the Super B League, Crvenka’s handball team, lost away to Kolubara in Lazarevac, 27:22, with the halftime score 12:10 in Kolubara’s favor. Crvenka entered the spring half of the season without three regular starters—Perović, Tasić and Vukadinović—and no suitable replacements were brought in, signaling that the team had given up on the race for the highest finish. Kolubara, on the other hand, are fighting to retain their Super League status, approached the match with greater motivation and deservedly won in the end. Crvenka’s handball players stayed in contention until the 40 minute, when Kolubara led 17:14. Kolubara then went on a run of 3:0, taking a six-goal lead, and calmly saw out the match in a goal-for-goal finish. Crvenka coach Miloš Mitrović says that his team put in one of its weakest performances in Lazarevac, lacking sufficient concentration in attack and solidity in defense. Simply put, too few players were in form, and the number of departures from the team also affected its play. Crvenka’s top scorer was Savo Bošković with 6 goals. After the defeat in Lazarevac, Crvenka are fourth in the standings with 14 points, and will host Sinđelić from Belgrade in the next round.

Our first-league women’s teams also had a poor showing: Sivac’s Krule and Crvenka’s Laki.

Krule hosted Sloven from Ruma on its home court in Sivac and lost 24:23, with the half-time score 12:9 in Sivač's favor. Coach Aljoša Bikicki's team controlled the match for most of the game and led by 3-4 goals; in the 47 minute they led 19:16. But as the match drew to a close, Sivač's handball players began to tire, which Sloven took advantage of, taking the lead for the first time in the 57 minute, by 23:22, and the visitors managed to preserve that one-goal advantage and win. Aleksandra Jelenković was Krule's top scorer, with 10 goals. Our other first-league team in the women's competition, Crvenka's Laki, hosted league leaders Ruma in Ruski Krstur. The visitors justified their status as favorites and beat Laki 43:11, with the half-time score 24:8. The score itself most vividly reflects what happened on the court, making any comment unnecessary. Anđela Lovre was Laki's top scorer, with 5 goals. After the twelfth round, Krule is eighth in the standings with 7, while Laki is last with 2 points. In the next round, Krule visits league leaders Ruma, while Laki will face Jadran in Feketić.

Hajduk’s basketball players successfully completed the group stage of the First Regional League of Serbia. In 14 Round, they defeated Nova Pazova 74:44 on their home court. Although the match had no competitive significance, Hajduk’s players impressed with their disciplined play, especially on defense, as reflected in the number of points scored by the visitors. Hajduk’s most effective players were captain Škrbić and center Tešović, with 13 points each.

Hajduk’s basketball players now face a new challenge: the playoffs.

Hajduk’s volleyball team had a successful weekend. In round 15 of the Second League, coach Milorad Lazić’s team beat West of Šid 3:2 in front of their home fans. They have only themselves to blame for not recording a maximum-score win, as they had substantial leads at certain points in both sets they lost. The team from Šid took the first set 25:23, Hajduk won the second 25:18, the players from Šid took the third again 25:23, and Hajduk won the fourth 25:21. In the fifth set, the Kula team were dominant and took it 15:11, securing a final victory of 3:2.

In round 11 of the First Vojvodina League championship, Hajduk’s women volleyball players visited Subotica. The hosts won 3:2, with set scores of 25:19, 22:25, 25:16 and 21:25, while Subotica won the fifth set 15:8. With 5 points earned, Hajduk’s women volleyball players are second from last in the standings. In the next round, they host Goks In from Odžaci in Kula.

With a win in round 16 of the First Vojvodina League, Hajduk’s bowlers took over the top spot in the standings. Playing at home in Vrbas, Hajduk beat Golubinci 5:3 on points and 3206:3129 in knocked-down pins. Hajduk’s points were earned by Marko Eraković with 589, Darko Milović with 568 and Vladimir Trišić with 531 knocked-down pins, while the team earned two points for knocking down more pins overall. Hajduk lead the standings with 22 points and will travel to Novi Sad to play Bačka in the next round.

Our football teams used the past weekend to assess their preparations so far in friendly matches. Serbian League side Hajduk 1912 hosted Tekstilac from Odžaci at the Geder and lost 2:0. The “Hajduks” have one more warm-up match before the spring season begins: their so-called dress rehearsal on Saturday against ČSK in Čelarevo. Crvenka, members of the Sombor District League, beat Kordun from Kljajićevo 5:0 on their home ground. Crvenka’s goals were scored by Božičić (two), and Milan Subotić, Šakić and Jovanović (one each). Crvenka’s dress rehearsal before the spring season begins will be next weekend, when they host Sutjeska from Bačko Dobro Polje. District League side Rusin beat a Hajduk mixed team 3:0 yesterday in a friendly in Ruski Krstur. Janko Kulić scored twice for Rusin, and Ognjen Marković once. Rusin’s dress rehearsal will be on Sunday, when they host Iskra from Kucura in Ruski Krstur. Our third District League side, Lipar, beat Železničar from Novi Sad 3:2 at home yesterday. Lipar’s goals were scored by Delić, Živko and Šegan. Lipar’s dress rehearsal before the spring season begins will be on Saturday, when they host Budućnost from Savino Selo. Polet’s footballers, members of the Sombor Intermunicipal League First Division, beat Dunav from Bački Monoštor 5:0 in a friendly in Sivac yesterday. On Sunday they will travel to Kljajićevo to face Kordun. Kula’s footballers lost 4:1 to Srbobran in a friendly played at the Geder yesterday. Jovanović scored Kula’s goal. Kula’s footballers will have their next fitness test next weekend, when they play Hercegovac in Gajdobra.

Đ. Bojanić