The 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Challenger Cup is the 2nd edition of the water polo competition organised by European Aquatics. It acted as the third tier, below the European Aquatics Women's Champions League and the European Aquatics Women's Euro Cup. Izmir BSB Spor are the defending champions.
This is the last season where the Challenger Cup is the third tier tournament in European water polo, with the Conference Cup taking its place.
Izmir BSB Spor successfully defended their title after triumphing over fellow Turkish side Galatasaray Zena in the final.
Format 17 teams are separated into four groups of four or five. Each group is held at one club. The top 2 from each group advance to Qualification round II. The last eight teams are then drawn into two groups of four, with the top two from both groups advancing to the final four to decide the champion.
Rankings Only teams below the top 6 can enter the competition.
RankAssociationPointsTeams1 Spain124,20002 Greece105,102.53 Hungary89,452.54 Italy76,7605 France35,147.56 Netherlands13,7857 Russia9,217.58 Germany8,29029 Portugal6,010110 Malta4,0902
RankAssociationPointsTeams11 Croatia2,930212 Serbia2,86013 Turkey2,560314 Slovakia1,715015 Great Britain1,330216 Israel1,250117 Sweden1,060018 Bulgaria77019 Czech Republic7701N/A Romania0
Teams Only countries below the top 6 in the European Aquatics women's club rankings can enter teams into this competition.
+Participating teams ŽAVK Mladost Jadran Split AJF Strakonice SSV Esslingen SV Blau-Weiss Bochum Otter Swimming Club City Of Manchester WPC Hapoel Emek Hayarden Sirens ASC Sliema ASC Sport Lisboa e Benfica CSM Unirea Alba Iulia VK Vojvodina ZVK Crvena Zvezda Izmir BSB Spor Galatasaray Zena Dalton Koleji SK
Schedule
Rounds and dates
Phase Round date Qualification round I 7–10 November 2024 Qualification round II 7–8 December 2024 Final four 22–23 February 2025
Qualification round I In the qualification round I, teams play in a round robin format. The top 2 in each group advance. Draw The draw was on 16 September 2024. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The seeding was decided by as follows: The European Aquatics club rankings. European Aquatics country club rankings. European Aquatics women's national team rankings.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Sirens ASC (H) Izmir BSB Spor ZVK Crvena Zvezda ŽAVK Mladost Sport Lisboa e Benfica Jadran Split VK Vojvodina (H) AJF Strakonice (H) City Of Manchester WPC Otter Swimming Club SSV Esslingen SV Blau-Weiss Bochum Sliema ASC Galatasaray Zena Dalton Koleji SK Hapoel Emek Hayarden CSM Unirea Alba Iulia (H)
Group A Held in Novi Sad, Serbia
Group B Held in Valletta, Malta
Group C Held in Strakonice, Czech Republic
Group D Held in Alba Iulia, Romania
Qualification round II In the qualification round II, teams play in a round robin format. The top 2 in each group advance to the final four.
Draw The draw was on 11 November 2024. 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. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the final four. Pot 1 Pot 2 Izmir BSB Spor Jadran Split ŽAVK Mladost Sport Lisboa e Benfica VK Vojvodina (H) SV Blau-Weiss Bochum Otter Swimming Club Galatasaray Zena (H)
Group A Held in Istanbul, Turkey
Group B Held in Vojvodina, Serbia
Final four
On 18 January 2025, European Aquatics announced that Galatasaray Zena would be the hosting club for the final four. The final was at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Cemal Kamaci Sports Complex in Istanbul.
Semifinals
Third place game
Final
2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Challenger Cup Champions Izmir BSB SporSecond title
See also 2024–25 European Aquatics Champions League 2024–25 European Aquatics Euro Cup 2024–25 European Aquatics Challenger Cup 2024 European Aquatics Super Cup 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Champions League 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Euro Cup 2024 European Aquatics Women's Super Cup
References
External links Official statistics of the tournament