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.

RankAssociationPointsTeams1 Spain105,597.502 Greece91,1253 Hungary84,842.54 Italy76,4105 France24,127.56 Russia53.387 Netherlands49.3008 Slovakia5,1459 Germany4,6209 Portugal4,620211 Malta3,940112 Israel2,500013 Croatia1,012.52

RankAssociationPointsTeamsNR Bulgaria01NR Czech Republic0NR Great Britain02NR Serbia0NR Sweden01NR Turkey02

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

Group B Held in Strakonice, Czech Republic

Group C Held in Burgas, Bulgaria

Final six There was originally going to be a home and away final to decide the champions. But due to the unexpected number 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

Group B

Knockout stage Fifth place match

Third place match

Final

2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup Champions Izmir BB GSKFirst title

See also 2023–24 LEN Champions League 2023–24 LEN Euro Cup 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup 2023 LEN Super Cup 2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League 2023–24 LEN Women's Euro Cup 2023 LEN Women's Super Cup

External links Matches playlist Official statistics of the tournament

References