Spain and Italy will play for the gold medal in tomorrow’s final match of the LEN Men’s European U17 Championships in Tbilisi (Georgia).
Today, in the semifinals Spain defeated Hungary 8:5. Italy recorded a convincing win over Greece 13:8. Less than a month ago, the senior national teams of Italy and Spain faced off in the final of the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju. Italy defeated Spain 10:5 in South Korea. We will see the young Spaniards’ revenge or Italy taking a new gold medal
Neighbors Serbia and Montenegro advanced to the match for the 5th place. In the semifinals of the classification 5-8, Serbia defeated Germany 8:4, while Montenegro was better than Russia 9:5
Sunday, August 18th
Final: Spain – Italy
Bronze medal match: Hungary – Greece
Classification 5th-6th: Serbia – Montenegro
Classification 7th-8th: Germany – Russia
2019 men’s European U17 Championships, Day 7
Semifinals
Spain – Hungary 8:5 (2:2, 3:0, 2:2, 1:1)
Spain: Valera 4, Daura 2, Ponferrada 1, Ramon 1.
Hungary: Szeghalmi 1, Gabor 1, Vigvari 1, Nyiri 1, Szabo 1.
The Hungarians opened the 1st semifinal with a 1:0 lead, but the Spaniards took control soon after that and earned a 2:1 advantage. Hungary converted a man-up to equalize seven seconds before the end of the first period. Spain dominated the second quarter, by scoring three goals in a row. They led 5:2 at halftime. Early in the third quarter Hungary scored its 3rd goal for 3:5. Spain responded with two goals to jump to a 7:3 lead. The Hungarians couldn’t come back and Spain advanced to the gold medal match.
Greece – Italy 8:13 (1:5, 1:2, 5:3, 1:3)
Greece: Mokkas 3, Katsagounos 1, Mathiopooulos 1, Kechalaris 1,Tsatalio1 , Kougionnis 1.
Italy: Iocchi Gratta 4, Ferrero 2, Silvestri 2, Gianzza 2, Mladossich 1, Cassia 1, Splineli 1.
Italy stunned Greece in the opening minutes. The Italians staged almost flawless performance and took a 5:0 lead after less than five minutes of play. It took 7 minutes and 11 seconds before Greece scored its first goal for 1:5. The first quarter determined the rest of the encounter. After a middle break, the Italians built a 6-goal advantage (8:2 and 9:3). Then, they missed a few nice chances and the Greeks started climbing back. Greece cut the deficit by the last break (7:10). But, the Italians retook control in the last quarter. They finished a well-done job, by scoring three goals. In the end, the margin between the sides was the same as it was after the first five minutes. Italy defeated Greece 13:8.
Classification 5-8, semifinals
Russia – Montenegro 5:9 (2:1, 1:4, 1:1, 1:3)
Russia: Miriziev 2, Iarullin 1, Bovan 1, Fedotov 1.
Montenegro: Mrsic 3, Sladovic 2, Milic 1, Radovic 1, Stanojevic 1, Stevovic 1.
The Montenegrins climbed back after being 0:2 down in the 5th minute of play. They struck back with five consecutive goals and gained a 5:2 advantage midway through the second quarter. Russia was able to reduce the gap on 1 on two occasions – 4:5 in the 24th minute and 5:6 early in the fourth period. Montenegro shut out Russia in the last six minutes, while it scored three goals for a 9:5 win.
Serbia – Germany 8:4 (2:0, 1:2, 3:1, 2:1)
Serbia: Bucan 2, Martinovic 2, Janjic 2, Vasic 1, Vukazic 1.
Germany: Bozic 1, Portisch 1, Sekulic 1, Schipper 1.
Serbia grabbed an early 2:0 lead. The Germans managed to level the score in the 11th minute (2:2), but they didn’t go further. The Serbs secured the win in the middle two quarters. They entered the last period with a 6:3 advantage and they added two goals to increase the lead to five (8:3) with 3.24 remaining on the clock. The Germans’ consolation goal came too late. Serbia beat them by 4 goals – 8:4.
