Budva retain Montenegro Cup trophy with big comeback

The men’s final of the Montenegro National Cup was less dramatic than the women’s matchup – Budva continued their domestic dominance and, after completing a comeback from one set down, defeated Budućnost 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-22, 25-14).

It seemed that Budućnost’s players were highly motivated after their women’s team had won the first trophy, as they took the opening set of the final in Podgorica and looked impressive. However, Budva showed their full quality and eventually secured their third consecutive derby victory.

After managing to level the match following a hard-fought 25-23 second set, and then turning the score around with a 25-22 win in the third, Budva were utterly dominant in the fourth set to claim their eighth consecutive National Cup title (25-14). There was no drama in the final set – Budva built a big early lead and comfortably sealed the win.

The titleholders were led to their first trophy of the season by captain Balša Radunović with 17 points. Opposite hitter Lazar Dodić added 16, while U18 national team player Vuk Stanojević scored as many as 11 points, playing for a number of minutes in the last two sets.

For Budućnost, Aleksa Nikolić was the top scorer with 13 points, followed by captain Jovan Delić with 12 and Marko Sinđelić with 11.

This was the second trophy clash between Budva and Budućnost this season – after the Montenegro Super Cup, which was won by Budućnost, they also met in the Cup final, while both teams have reached the semi-finals of the EPCG Super League.