Italy, Greece, Hungary and Spain won the 1st places in their respective groups at the Men’s European U17 Championships in Tbilisi and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Italy and Spain secured their spots among top 8 teams yesterday, while the Hungarian and the Greek juniors joined them today, by convincing wins in the third round. Spain is the only of the four teams which didn’t manage to collect all 9 points in the Group Stage. The Spaniards shared the points with France today (11:11). But, that match couldn’t affect the rankings. Both sides had nothing to lose or gain.

The biggest surprise of the Group Stage happened today. Germany defeated Croatia (7:5) in a battle for the 2nd place in Group D.

Wednesday, August 14th

Cross-over matches
Russia (2A) – Netherlands (3C)
Serbia (2C) – Malta (3A)
Montenegro (2B) – Croatia (3D)
Germany (2D) – Georgia (3B)

Classification 13-16, semifinals
Turkey – Slovakia
Romania – France

Thursday, August 15th
Quarterfinals
Serbia/Malta– Greece (1B)
Russia /Netherlands – Spain (1D)
Montenegro/Croatia – Hungary (1C)
Germany/ Georgia – Italy (1A)

2019 men’s European U17 Championships, Day 3

Group A

Italy – Turkey 16:9 (5:1, 5:2, 4:2, 2:4)

Italy: Gianazza 3, Carnesecchi 2, Silvestri 2, Ferrero 2, Parrella 2, Cassia 1, Mladossich 1, Occhione 1, Caldieri 1, De Gregorio 1.
Turkey: Yutmaz 5, Ketenci 2,Temel 1, Mogultay 1.

Russia – Malta 14:12 (5:2, 3:4, 4:2, 2:4)

Russia: Zhuliabin 3, Shulev 3, Rachitelev 3, Bovan 2, Ivannikov 1, Mirziev 1, Iarullin 1.
Malta: Muscat 6, Cachia 2, Busuttil 2, Bonavia 2.

Italy enjoyed an easy cruise today and finished the group play at 3-0. Early in the second period, the Italians led 7:1. At halftime, they had a 7-goal advantage (10:3). They added four goals by the middle of the third quarter for 14:3 and after that, the Italians could relax and slow down in the remaining 12 minutes.

An encounter between Russia and Malta decided the 2nd and 3rd place in the group. The Russians needed a point to remain in the second place. Russia led for most of the time, they had a 12:8 advantage before the last period. Malta was able to come back and to level the score – 12:12 four minutes from the end. Russia quickly responded with two goals for 14:12 and kept the advantage until the end.

1 Italy 3 – 9
2 Russia 3 -6
3 Malta 3 – 3
4 Turkey 3 – 0

Group B

Romania – Montenegro 6:16 (1:6, 1:2, 3:4, 1:4)

Romania:Pirianu 2, Neamtu 1, Gheorghe 1, Lutescu 1, Sachetti 1.
Montenegro: Milic 4, Sladovic 3, Stanojevic 2, Vujosevic 2, Korac 2, Vujacic 1, Vujovic 1, Vukotic 1.

Georgia – Greece 7:18 (1:4, 2:5, 2:4, 2:5)

Georgia: Tevdorashvili 3, Dadvani 3, Giorgadze 1.
Greece: Tsatalios 4, Sgouridis 3, Gkillas 2,Katsagounos 2, Vlassis 2, Mokkas 1, Zouridis 1, Mathiopoulos 1, Chalyvopoulos 1, Kechalaris 1.

Greece was too strong for host Georgia. The Greek teenagers ran over the home team in the first 12 minutes. They built a 6-goal advantage (7:1) midway through the second quarter and never looked back.

Montenegro left no chance to Romania. The opening 6:1 quarter said it all. Montenegro doubled an advantage in the next three quarters.

1 Greece 3 – 9
2 Montenegro 3 – 6
3 Georgia 3 – 3
4 Romania 3 – 0

Group C

Hungary – Netherlands 11:7 (2:1, 3:1, 2:2, 4:3)

Hungary: Lantos 3, Szeghalmi 2, Kevi 1, Vismeg 1, Peto 1, Nyiri 1, Molnar 1, Meszaros 1.
Netherlands: Wouters 4, Schouwerwou 1, Rempt 1, Van der Weijden 1.

Serbia – Slovakia 14:4 (4:2, 4:0, 2:1, 4:1)

Serbia: Milojevic 6, Martinovic 3, Vukazic 2, Pljevancic 1, Tonkovic 1, Cvetkovic 1.
Slovakia: Ravinger 1, Berlansky 1, Holic 1, Horvath 1.

Hungary defeated the Netherlands by 4 goals, but the Hungarians needed a lot of time to break the Dutch. The Netherlands took a 1:0 lead. By the first break, Hungary went in front, while it gained a 3:1 lead in the second quarter. Hungary maintained a difference of 2 or 3 goals in the 2nd and 3rd period. The Dutch’s last hope was a penalty shot goal for 6:8 in the 26th minute. Hungary responded with three straight goals for 11:6 and finally secured a win.

Serbia was able to recover from yesterday’s 3:12 loss to Hungary. The Serbs dominated the match against Slovakia and recorded a 10-goal win (14:4).

1 Hungary 3 – 9
2 Serbia 3 – 6
3 Netherlands 3 – 3
4 Slovakia 3 – 0

Group D

Croatia – Germany 5:7 (0:1, 2:5, 2:1, 1:0)

Croatia: Stahor 2, Maric 1, Peric 1, Radic 1.
Germany: Chiru 2, Sekulic 1, Arslan 1, Gansen 1, Schuetze 1, Shipper 1.

Spain – France 11:11 (3:3, 1:4, 2:2, 5:2)

Spain: Biel Lara 3, Valera 2, Andrade 2, Anzar 2, Teclas 1, Ramon 1.
France: Vilcot 3, Armingol 2, Vernoux 1, Vanhille 1, Carpentras 1, Debias 1, Ait Dahmane 1.

Germany upset Croatia thanks to an excellent play in the last four minutes of the second quarter. In the middle of the 2nd period, the sides were tied (2:2). By the end of the first half, Germans netted four goals for a 6:2 lead. Croatia couldn’t catch the rival in the third and fourth period. The Germans secured themselves a pretty easy task in the cross-over match. They will play against Georgia. Croatia will face Montenegro in the derby of the cross-over round.

Spain and France met in the last match in the group. The result of this game could change nothing, as Spain had already secured the first place, while France couldn’t move from the bottom of the table. The French were very close to their first win in Tbilisi. They led 7:4 at halftime and maintained the advantage by the last break (9:6). France added two goals early in the fourth and jumped to an 11:6 lead before the Spaniards started climbing back. Spain scored five goals in the last four minutes and took a point. Biel Lara netted an equalizer just six seconds from time.

Day 3 proved that this was the most balanced group. In four matches, the difference between the teams was just 2 goals, while the last game was ended in a draw. Only Germany recorded a convincing win (11:6 over France).

1 Spain 3 – 7
2 Germany 3 – 6
3 Croatia 3 – 3
4 France 3 – 1