# 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup

The 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup was the inaugural edition of the new water polo competition organised by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). It acted as the third tier, below the LEN Women's Champions League and the LEN Women's Euro Cup.
Izmir BB GSK won the inaugural competition, beating ZVK Crvena Zvezda 10–9 in the final. Izmir BB GSK became the first Turkish club to win a European club water polo competition.

## Introduction

A year after the men's competition started, LEN decided to inaugurate a women's version. Similar to the men's tournament, the LEN Women's Challenger Cup was designed to help developing countries and clubs grow and play more European club games.

## Format

15 teams are separated into three groups of five. Each group is held at one club. The top 2 from each group advance to the Final Six. The final six, the six teams club are pooled into two groups of three where the two group winners advance to the final, while the two runners up play for third. Like the previous round, the final six is held at one club.

## Rankings

Only teams below the top 6 can enter the competition.
| Rank | Association | Points | Teams |
| 1 | Spain | 105,597.5 | 0 |
| 2 | Greece | 91,125 | 0 |
| 3 | Hungary | 84,842.5 | 0 |
| 4 | Italy | 76,410 | 0 |
| 5 | France | 24,127.5 | 0 |
| 6 | Russia | 53.38 | 0 |
| 7 | Netherlands | 49.300 | 0 |
| 8 | Slovakia | 5,145 | 0 |
| 9 | Germany | 4,620 | 0 |
| 9 | Portugal | 4,620 | 2 |
| 11 | Malta | 3,940 | 1 |
| 12 | Israel | 2,500 | 0 |
| 13 | Croatia | 1,012.5 | 2 |
| Rank | Association | Points | Teams |
| NR | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 |
| NR | Czech Republic | 0 | 1 |
| NR | Great Britain | 0 | 2 |
| NR | Serbia | 0 | 2 |
| NR | Sweden | 0 | 1 |
| NR | Turkey | 0 | 2 |
* ↑ Israel originally entered a club in the competition, but withdrew just before the tournament started

## Teams

Only countries below the top 6 in the LEN women's club rankings can enter teams into this competition.
Participating teams :
| Kvt Lokomotiv-N.Nanov | Asten Johnson Fezko Strakonice | ŽAVK Mladost | Jadran Split |
| Hapoel Emek Hayarden | Otter Swimming Club | City Of Manchester Water Polo Club | Sirens ASC |
| Sport Lisboa e Benfica | Clube Fluvial Portuense | VK Vojvodina | ZVK Crvena Zvezda |
| Järfälla | Izmir BB GSK | ODTU Sport Club | |

## Schedule
### Rounds and dates

| Phase | Round date |
| Qualification round | 19–22 October 2023 |
| Final six | 24–26 November 2023 |

## Draw

The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the final six. The seeding was decided by as follows:
* The new LEN club rankings.
* LEN country club rankings.
* LEN women's national team rankings.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | Pot 5 |
| Sirens ASC ŽAVK Mladost Sport Lisboa e Benfica | Clube Fluvial Portuense Hapoel Emek Hayarden Jadran Split | ZVK Crvena Zvezda VK Vojvodina (H) Izmir BB GSK | ODTU Sport Club Asten Johnson Fezko Strakonice (H) Otter Swimming Club | City Of Manchester Water Polo Club Kvt Lokomotiv-N.Nanov (H) Järfälla |

## Qualification round
### Group A

Held in Novi Sad, Serbia
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | JAD | MLA | VOJ | MAN | ODT |
| 1 | Jadran Split | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 45 | +22 | 9 | Final six | — | 17–12 | — | 12–10 | 26–10 |
| 2 | ŽAVK Mladost | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 78 | 37 | +41 | 9 | Final six | — | — | — | 16–8 | — |
| 3 | VK Vojvodina (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 38 | +18 | 9 | | 13–12 | 11–14 | — | 14–7 | 18–5 |
| 4 | City Of Manchester Water Polo Club | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 47 | −5 | 3 | | — | — | — | — | 17–5 |
| 5 | ODTU Sport Club | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 97 | −76 | 0 | | — | 1–36 | — | — | — |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head goal difference: Jadran Split +4, ŽAVK Mladost −2, VK Vojvodina −2. Head-to-head result: VK Vojvodina 11–14 ŽAVK Mladost.

### Group B

Held in Strakonice, Czech Republic
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | IZM | BEN | JÄR | STR | HAP |
| 1 | Izmir BB GSK | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 24 | +40 | 9 | Final six | — | — | 21–3 | — | Canc. |
| 2 | Sport Lisboa e Benfica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 41 | +3 | 6 | Final six | 10–19 | — | 17–9 | — | Canc. |
| 3 | Järfälla | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 50 | −25 | 3 | | — | — | — | — | Canc. |
| 4 | Asten Johnson Fezko Strakonice (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 54 | −18 | 0 | | 11–24 | 13–17 | 12–13 | — | Canc. |
| 5 | Hapoel Emek Hayarden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | — |

### Group C

Held in Burgas, Bulgaria
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CRV | FLU | SIR | LOK | OTT |
| 1 | ZVK Crvena Zvezda | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 31 | +31 | 12 | Final six | — | — | 19–12 | 17–3 | — |
| 2 | Clube Fluvial Portuense | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 9 | Final six | 8–14 | — | — | — | 12–7 |
| 3 | Sirens ASC | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 47 | 0 | 6 | | — | 5–8 | — | — | 14–10 |
| 4 | Kvt Lokomotiv-N.Nanov (H) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 50 | −16 | 3 | | — | 7–10 | 10–16 | — | — |
| 5 | Otter Swimming Club | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 52 | −20 | 0 | | 8–12 | — | — | 7–14 | — |

## Final six

There was originally going to be a home and away final to decide the champions. But due to the unexcepted amount of clubs entering the competition, the water polo committee altered the format to introduce a final six tournament.

### Draw

The draw took place on 24 October in Barcelona. Pots 1 and 2 consist of the teams that finished first and second in the previous round respectively. The only restriction was that clubs from the same group in the previous round could not be drawn against each other.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
| Jadran Split Izmir BB GSK ZVK Crvena Zvezda | ŽAVK Mladost Sport Lisboa e Benfica Clube Fluvial Portuense |

### Host

The tournament was announced to be held in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, by ŽAVK Mladost, on 6 November.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CRV | BEN | JAD |
| 1 | ZVK Crvena Zvezda | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 3 | Final | — | 13–10 | — |
| 2 | Sport Lisboa e Benfica | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 3 | Third place match | — | — | 12–8 |
| 3 | Jadran Split | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 19 | −2 | 3 | Fifth place match | 9–7 | — | — |
* 1 2 ZVK Crvena Zvezda 13–10 Sport Lisboa e Benfica
| 24 November 20:30 | Report | ZVK Crvena Zvezda | 13–10 | Sport Lisboa e Benfica | Mladost pool Referees: Nikolett Sajben (HUN), Ralf Mueller (GER) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Nikolett Sajben (HUN), Ralf Mueller (GER) |||
| 24 November 20:30 | Report | Lukic 5 | Goals | Pereira da Mata 4 | Mladost pool Referees: Nikolett Sajben (HUN), Ralf Mueller (GER) |
| 25 November 12:00 | Report | Sport Lisboa e Benfica | 12–8 | Jadran Split | Mladost pool Referees: Peter de Jong (NED), Martina Kunikova (SVK) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Peter de Jong (NED), Martina Kunikova (SVK) |||
| 25 November 12:00 | Report | Perez 4 | Goals | Butic, Jankovic 3 | Mladost pool Referees: Peter de Jong (NED), Martina Kunikova (SVK) |
| 25 November 19:30 | Report | Jadran Split | 9–7 | ZVK Crvena Zvezda | Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Nikolett Sajben (HUN) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Nikolett Sajben (HUN) |||
| 25 November 19:30 | Report | Butic 3 | Goals | Diaz Mesa 3 | Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Nikolett Sajben (HUN) |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | IZM | MLA | FLU |
| 1 | Izmir BB GSK | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 17 | +13 | 6 | Final | — | 12–9 | — |
| 2 | ŽAVK Mladost (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 21 | +5 | 3 | Third place match | — | — | 17–9 |
| 3 | Clube Fluvial Portuense | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 35 | −18 | 0 | Fifth place match | 8–18 | — | — |
| 24 November 2023 19:00 | Report | Izmir BB GSK | 12–9 | ŽAVK Mladost | Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Martina Kunikova (SVK) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Martina Kunikova (SVK) |||
| 24 November 2023 19:00 | Report | Kus 5 | Goals | Rozic 3 | Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Martina Kunikova (SVK) |
| 25 November 2023 10:30 | Report | ŽAVK Mladost | 17–9 | Clube Fluvial Portuense | Mladost pool Referees: Ralf Mueller (GER), Ioana Prodan (ROU) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Ralf Mueller (GER), Ioana Prodan (ROU) |||
| 25 November 2023 10:30 | Report | Brnetic 5 | Goals | Santos 5 | Mladost pool Referees: Ralf Mueller (GER), Ioana Prodan (ROU) |
| 25 November 2023 18:00 | Report | Clube Fluvial Portuense | 8–18 | Izmir BB GSK | Mladost pool Referees: Ioana Prodan (ROU), Peter de Jong (NED) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Ioana Prodan (ROU), Peter de Jong (NED) |||
| 25 November 2023 18:00 | Report | three players 2 | Goals | Dabbag, Kus 4 | Mladost pool Referees: Ioana Prodan (ROU), Peter de Jong (NED) |

### Fifth place match

| Fifth place match | Fifth place match |
| November 26 | November 26 |
| Jadran Split | 18 |
| Clube Fluvial Portuense | 11 |
| 26 November 2023 10:00 | Report | Jadran Split | 18–11 | Clube Fluvial Portuense | Mladost pool Referees: Nikolett Sajban (HUN), Ioana Prodan (ROU) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Nikolett Sajban (HUN), Ioana Prodan (ROU) |||
| 26 November 2023 10:00 | Report | Jankovic 6 | Goals | Montero de Andrade 5 | Mladost pool Referees: Nikolett Sajban (HUN), Ioana Prodan (ROU) |

### Third place match

| Third place match | Third place match |
| November 26 | November 26 |
| Sport Lisboa e Benfica | 13 |
| ŽAVK Mladost | 14 |
| 26 November 11:30 | Report | Sport Lisboa e Benfica | 13–14 | ŽAVK Mladost | Mladost pool Referees: Martina Kunikova (SVK), Ralf Mueller (GER) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Martina Kunikova (SVK), Ralf Mueller (GER) |||
| 26 November 11:30 | Report | Perez 8 | Goals | four players 4 | Mladost pool Referees: Martina Kunikova (SVK), Ralf Mueller (GER) |

### Final

| Final | Final |
| November 26 | November 26 |
| ZVK Crvena Zvezda | 9 |
| Izmir BB GSK | 10 |
| 26 November 13:00 | Report | ZVK Crvena Zvezda | 9–10 | Izmir BB GSK | Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Peter de Jong (NED) |
| Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Peter de Jong (NED) |||
| 26 November 13:00 | Report | Radonjic 4 | Goals | Kus 4 | Mladost pool Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Peter de Jong (NED) |
* 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup Champions
* Izmir BB GSK First title