October 13, 2021 - As we get closer to the holiday season we get a better idea of what to expect in the 2021 Split Advent program as offers for holiday houses roll in around the city.

To experience the real Advent experience, Split residents will not have to travel to Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Makarska, but also other cities outside Croatia this year. This year's Split Advent peak will be on the Riva, at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Park (Đardin), on the Cornaro ramparts, and in Mertojak, reports Dalmacija Danas.

The first round of the public invitation to exhibit, present and sell products and services at the 2021 Split Advent ended earlier this week. 

"Yesterday, at a public invitation, we received an offer for the Mertojak zone. With this offer, all zones were filled, except for one catering house on Đardin and several shops on the Riva. Therefore, tomorrow we will publish the second round of applications, and we hope that the little that is left will be filled," said the director of Žnjan d.o.o. Ante Šunjić.

Namely, OPG Ante Žigo submitted an offer for 8,000 kuna, Obrt za trgovinu Sirko and Naprid bili for 6,000 kuna, and Riba Dražin for 10,000 kuna. UO Ring sent a bid for a spot on the Riva (going for a little more than 51,000 kuna), and for 33,500 kuna, they will also sell their products in Đardin. They will be joined by BSRZ Naši ljudi in the park in the center of the city, who offered 33,600 kuna for their house.

Highline Cars, which offered HRK 50,013, will take care of the catering offer at Mertojak.

Split Riva
This year, the Riva will feature eight trading houses and two ‘sweet’ houses. One of the eight trading houses is Hajdukova, meaning the Hajduk Fan shop will move to the Riva during this holiday period. 

The catering houses have been transferred to the Cornaro ramparts.

"Due to the current epidemiological situation, which may be better or worse, we are not able to set up catering houses on the Riva. However, visitors can expect ten houses, eight of which are commercial and two 'sweet' houses," said Šunjić.

He notes that the second round of applications for the exhibition, presentation, and sale of products and services at Split Advent starts today. There are several trading houses left on the Riva.

Đardin
This year, there will be a skating rink in Đardin, with two food and three ‘sweet’ houses.

Cornaro ramparts
A real surprise for the people of Split is the food offer at Cornaro. The best bid of 160,013 kuna was made by the Festival Production Association, owned by Domagoj Petričević, otherwise the leader of the Association of Nightclubs and Bars.

Mertojak Park
Residents of Mertojak can expect a skating rink and food offer.

“For the first time this year, we organized a zone outside the city center, on Mertojak below the church. There will also be a smaller skating rink and catering houses for all ages," added Šunjić for Dalmacija Danas.

Žrnovnica
After a one-year break, the Žrvanj Association plans to organize another Christmas story in Žrnovnica in the center of Bašta in December.

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July 5, 2021 - Split bowling club and Croatian bowling champion Mertojak is the 3rd best team in Europe! 

With the triumph of the German champion SKV Rot Weis Zerbst 1999, the 2020 European Bowling Champions League ended. The finals in the men's and women's competitions, with the participation of four teams each, were held in the German town of Bamberg, about thirty kilometers away from Nimberg.

In the final, SKV Rot Weis Zerbst was better than the Hungarian champion, Zengo Alfold Szegedi TE 7:1 (3964:3835).

Croatia had three representatives, Mertojak and Zaprešić in the men's competition and Mlaka from Rijeka in the women's competition.

In the semifinals, Zerbst beat Mertojak 7:1 (3866: 3724).  In the second semifinal, Zengo Alfold Szegedi TE beat Zaprešić 8:0. The match for third place was thus between the two best Croatian teams.

Mertojak, this year's Croatian champion, once again confirmed its dominance, defeating Zaprešić 6:2, but this time by 100 (3832:3732). Coach and player Hrvoje Marinović achieved the best individual result in the entire competition, exceeding the magical 700 figure. His new personal record is 705, once again confirming his outstanding international class.

Mertojak once again achieved extraordinary international success, which strengthened their position among the best bowling clubs in Europe, certainly the best bowling team in the history of Split. 

As the champion of Croatia, Mertojak will perform at the World Cup (World Club Championship) in Otočac at the beginning of November, with the participation of 14 national champions. It will be an opportunity, on neutral ground, to win the World Cup after the Champions League, and at the same time to qualify for the new season of the Champions League. In addition to epidemiological measures, the arrival of European clubs is expected at Poljud at the end of the year.

Denis Delić, Goran Žubrinić, Paško Dragičević, Ljubo Budić, Siniša Papak, Davor Zoković and President Mladen Vuković were also in the Mertojak delegation at the Final Four.

"This success means a lot to our club. The Champions League is the toughest club competition as it requires great form throughout the season. Getting to the semifinals meant a lot to us, and in the end, we won the bronze medal. We are very proud of our success and consider it one of the greatest in the history of Split bowling," said Mertojak captain Goran Žubrinić. 

"Croatian club bowling has long been on the European map, especially because of the success of Zagreb and Osijek clubs, but now Split bowling has joined because of Mertojak. Therefore, we hope that on the occasion of this success we will be able to get a better status in the city of Split and that we will profit on the financial side because we need it to become a financially stable club and to be able to repeat these successes in the future," added Žubrinić.

"The plans for Mertojak are the same as every season. The goal is to fight for the title of Croatian champion and to reach the finals of European competitions, which this year are the World Cup in Otočac and the Champions League during the season."

Croatia won the 2025 World Cup bid in Varaždin; the 2021 World Cup will be held in Otočac, while Slavonski Brod will host the 2023 NBC Cup. As a result, this year's World Team Championship in Slovenia has been moved to the end of October. Hrvoje Marinović and Nikola Muše from Mertojak, Luka Bolanča, Branko Manev, and Matija Mance from Zaprešić, Alen Kujundžić from Medveščak 1958, and Bojan Vlakevski from SK FWT NeuNKirchen (AUT) will play for the Croatia national team. 

Source: Dalmacija Danas

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