The water polo Queen’s Cup arrives in a hectic month of February for the CN Sabadell, CN Mataró and CE Mediterrani, also immersed in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. A stop on the road that begins this Friday in Terrassa, where the hosts and those from Maresme will play for the title as usual, in the balanced duel of recent seasons. Maggie Steffens against Rita Kaszthely or Anni Espar against Maica García, to name some of the best players from CN Sabadell and CN Mataró, aspiring this season to lift the European title.
The star match of the quarterfinals will be played at 5:30 p.m. from Terrassa. CN Mataró faces CN Sant Andreu, a team that will give them a hard time and that has the goalkeeper of the Spanish National Team, Martina Terré, who just this Thursday has renewed three more seasons with the Barcelona team. “We are very happy for the renewal of Martina. Firstly, because we can enjoy it for more seasons and, above all, we are especially proud of the great maturity it has shown us”said Javi Aznar, the coach of the club from the Barcelona neighborhood.
Dani Ballart will also face what was his club before making the jump to CN Mataró, with a brief experience in Egypt. His team will feature Anni Espar, who returned earlier this week after spending the last month and a half in Australia. The rival of the winning team will face the winner of the duel between CN Terrassa in the semifinalswhere the captain of the National Team Pili Peña plays, and Atlètic-Barceloneta, which in recent years has added a powerful women’s section that has managed to establish itself in the Division of Honor. This meeting will start at 19:00.
Previously, it will be the turn of the other great favourite, CN Sabadell. With 17 titles, those from Vallès are the ones that have won the most titles throughout history, and only CN Mataró, current champion, has been able to get them out of the top drawer in the last 15 years. Those of David Palma will be able to count on the American talent Steffens, apart from the other Spanish internationals such as Laura Ester, Maica García, Judith Forca, Elena Ruiz or Bea Ortiz. They will first face Tenerife Echeyde (2:30 p.m.) and then, if they pass the process, the winner of CE Mediterrani against CN Catalunya (4:00 p.m.).
Next week, both Mediterrani and Sabadell and Mataró will play the second leg of the Champions League. The last two have everything in their favor to sneak into a historic four-way final.