The European Aquatics Federation (LEN) picked at jubilee 10 th edition of the LEN Awards the best water polo players of Europe in 2017.
For the fist time ever, two goalkeepers were picked for the awards: Marko Bijac (Croatia) was named the best male water polo player, while Laura Ester goalie of Spain, was, by LEN’s choice, the best among women in 2017.
Bijac played a pivotal role in Croatia’s World Championships triumph (and he came second with Jug Dubrovnik in the Champions League). The second place took a goalkeeper of the Hungarian national team, Viktor Nagy (Hungary). In third place is Sandro Sukno (Croatia), who was voted the best water polo player of the world in 2017, by coaches and journalist a month ago (Total player award). Andrija Prlainovic (Serbia) is ranked as 4th, while Marton Vamos (Hungary) took the 5th place.
Laura Ester’s saves were also key in Spain’s silver medal winning performance at the Worlds and Sabadell’s bronze medal in the Euro League. She was named the best goalkeeper at the World Championships in Budapest.