The 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup was the 2nd edition of a
water polo competition organised by the
Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). It acts as the third tier, below the
LEN Champions League and the
LEN Euro Cup. The reigning champions are
GS Apollon Smyrnis
GS Apollon Smyrnis, full name Gymnasticos Syllogos Apollon Smyrnis, literally ''Gymnastics Society Apollon of Smyrna'' ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης/ Γ.Σ. Απόλλων Σμύρνης) is a Greek mu ...
, but they won't defend their title due to their involvement in this season's
Champions League and
Euro Cup.
Galatasaray won the competition, beating Slovenian side,
Triglav Kranj, in the final. They become the first men's water polo team from Turkey to win a European title.
Format
This is the first season under the new changes made by
LEN
Len or LEN may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Lén, a character from Irish mythology
* Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player
* Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ
*Le ...
. 19 teams are grouped into 4 pools, three with five clubs, and one with four clubs. The pools are held by one of the clubs. The top 2 from every pool advances to the
quarter-finals, followed by
semi-finals and
finals.
Rankings
Only teams below the top 12 can enter the competition.
Teams
The team were announced on 8 September 2023. Starting this season, no countries ranked in the top 12 of the LEN men's club rankings can take part in this tournament.
Schedule
Rounds and dates
Qualification round
Draw
The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows:
*The new
LEN
Len or LEN may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Lén, a character from Irish mythology
* Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player
* Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ
*Le ...
club rankings.
*
LEN
Len or LEN may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Lén, a character from Irish mythology
* Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player
* Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ
*Le ...
country club rankings.
*
LEN
Len or LEN may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Lén, a character from Irish mythology
* Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player
* Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ
*Le ...
men's national team rankings.
Group A
Held in
Porto,
Portugal
Group B
Held in
Mouscron,
Belgium
Group C
Held in
Istanbul,
Turkey
Group D
Held in
Valletta,
Malta
Knockout stage
Draw
The draw took place on 24 October in
Barcelona.
The seeded and unseeded clubs 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.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
'' EVK Zaibas won 35–14 on aggregate.''
----
'' Galatasaray won 25–18 on aggregate.''
----
'' Triglav Kranj won 29–21 on aggregate.''
----
'' SC Kreuzlingen won 27–26 on aggregate.''
Semi-finals
''Galatasaray won 21–17 on aggregate''
----
'' Triglav Kranj won 21–20 on aggregate''
Final
''Galatasaray won 33–19 on aggregate''
See also
*
2023–24 LEN Champions League
*
2023–24 LEN Euro Cup
*
2023 LEN Super Cup
*
2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League
*
2023–24 LEN Women's Euro Cup
*
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 E ...
*
2023 LEN Women's Super Cup
External links
Official statistics of the tournamentOfficial playlist
References
{{2023–24 European club competitions
LEN Challenger Cup
2023 in men's water polo
2024 in men's water polo
2023–24 in LEN water polo