After the third round of the Group Stage at the 20th World U20 Championships in Kuwait, Greece became the first team that secured the 1st place in the group and qualified for the quarterfinals.
The Greeks continued their winning streak, by beating Brazil 13:2.
There were a few very exciting matches today. Australia came back from three goals down (4:7) to beat New Zealand (8:7).
Team USA downed Montenegro 11:9 in one of the derbies of Group C.
Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Spain collected the points with ease.
2019 World Men’s Junior Championships, Day 3
Group A
South Africa – Serbia 6:26 (0:8, 2:7, 1:5, 3:6)
South Africa: Faber 3, Howard 2, Stone 1.
Serbia: Radovic 5, Mitrovic 4, Nesic 4, Sulc 4, Barac 3, Martinovic 2, Cvetkovic 2, Vucinic 1, Pljevancic 1.
Croatia – China 24:5 (5:0, 8:0, 5:4, 6:1)
Croatia: Penava 5, Paparic 5, Herceg 4, Zuvela 3, Malenica 2, Krekovic 2, Vrdoljak 1, Bajic 1, Biljaka 1.
China: Gao 2, Wang 2, Lu 1.
Japan bye.
Balkan powerhouses Serbia and Croatia were “warming up” for their encounter scheduled for Sunday. That match will probably decide the group winner.
Croatia kept China scoreless for almost two and a half quarters. The Croats netted 15 goals before the Chinese scored their first. After that, Croatia’s players slowed down for a while, but they stretched the margin to 19 during the fourth quarter.
Serbia rushed to a 10:0 lead which determined the rest of the match. By halftime, the Serbs went 15:2 up and they continued to dominate after the middle break.
1 Croatia 2 – 4
2 Serbia 2 – 4
3 Japan 2 – 2
4 China 3 – 2
5 South Africa 3 – 0
Group B
Hungary – Egypt 19:7 (3:3, 5:1, 5:2, 6:1)
Hungary: Magyar 5, Baksa 4, Vigvari 3, Fekete 2, Bobis 2, Dala 1, Szeghalmi 1, Aranyi 1.
Egypt: Saleh 3, Rezk 2, Bassel 2.
Spain – Russia 19:8 (5:2, 5:0,5:2,4:4)
Spain: Montes 5, Ponferrada 3, Paul 3, Bertran 2, Alegre 2, Rodriguez 1, Asensio 1, Sanahuja 1, Valera 1.
Russia: Vasilev 4, Zinnurov 2, Makhiyanov 1, Pelikh 1.
Canada bye
Hungary started better than Egypt and took a 3:1 lead. But, Egypt answered with three goals and went ahead early in the second quarter (4:3). Egypt was in front for two minutes. In the middle of the quarter, Hungary started dominating and scored 7 goals in a row for a secure a safe 11:4 lead
Spain beat Russia easier than it was expected. Spain shut out Russia in the second quarter and rolled to a 10:2 lead by halftime. The Russians “woke up” too late – in the 4th period.
The Spaniards need a point in the match against Canada on Sunday to cement the 1st place and advance to the quarterfinals.
1 Spain 3 – 6
2 Canada 2 – 4
3 Hungary 2 – 2
4 Russia 2 – 0
5 Egypt 3 – 0
Group C
Italy – Iran 16:4 (4:1, 2:0, 6:2, 4:1)
Italy: Mezzarobba 3, Tartaro 3, Spione 3, Guidi 2, M. Di Martire 2, Ferrero 1, Narciso 1, G. Di Martire 1.
Iran: Aghaei 2, Ghareh 1, Hassany 1.
USA – Montenegro 11:9 (2:2, 4:2, 2:2,3:3)
USA: Vavic 2, Gruwell 2, Zaan 2, Ehrhardt 2, Molthen 1, Woodhead 1, Loth 1.
Montenegro: Vucurovic 2, D. Radovic 2, Draskovic 2, Franeta 1, Macic 1, Perkovic 1.
Kuwait bye
Team USA achieved an important victory over Montenegro and got back into the race for the top spot in the group, but everything is still open in the battle for the 1st place. After tomorrow’s derby Montenegro-Italy the situation in this group will be clear.
The Americans opened the match with a 2:0 lead, but Montenegrins equalized by the first break. Team USA made a 2-goal difference in the second quarter, and that proved vital for their win. They entered the last period with an 8:6 advantage. The Montenegrins cut the deficit twice (7:8, 8:9), but they wasted some good chances to level the score, and they paid for it. Garrett Zaan scored for 10:8 in the 31st minute, while Marko Vavic found the net from the counter-attack 32 seconds from the end for an unbeatable three-goal margin (11:8). Ten seconds later, Radovic scored the 9th goal for Montenegro. After that, the Americans kept the ball and the win.
Italy taught a lesson to Iran, despite the Arabic team played better than on Friday, when the USA demolished Iran 27:4.
1 Italy 2 – 4
2 USA 3 – 4
3 Montenegro 2 – 2
4 Iran 3 – 2
5 Kuwait 2 – 0
Group D
Australia – New Zealand 8:7 (2:3, 1:2, 1:1, 4:1)
Australia: Anstey 3, Gillfeather 2, Rector 1, Vos 1, Byrnes 1.
New Zealand: Clarck 2, Ferigo 1, Matthews 1, Morris 1, Brown 1, Paterson 1.
Greece – Brazil 13:2 (1:0, 4:0, 3:2, 5:0)
Greece: Nikolaidis 3, Kakaris 2, Gkouvetsis 2, Goniotakis2, Papageorgiou 2, Kalogeropoulos 1, Alafragkis 1.
Brazil: Fichman 1, Galvane 1.
Uzbekistan bye
Australia had to overcome a lot of difficulties in defeating its closest neighbors. New Zealand played better for three quarters. The „Kiwis“ built a 3-goal lead midway through the third period (6:3), but Australia entered the last quarter trailing by two goals (4:6). New Zealand earned a new 3-goal advantage (7:4) early in the fourth. Then Australia took control. The“Aussies“ equalized with 02:14 remaining on the clock – 7:7, while Lachlan Vos scored a winner 18 seconds from the end.
It took almost six minutes before Greece scored its first goal, but the reigning champions played with no mistake in defense and kept Brazil scoreless until the17th minute when Galvane found the net for 1:5. In the middle of the third quarter, the Brazilians scored their second and the last goal (2:6). After that, the Greeks continued to dominate, and led by Dimitrios Nikolaidis, earned their third win in Kuwait.
Greece beat Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand, while it will face last-placed Uzbekistan tomorrow to mathematically confirm the top spot in the group.
1 Greece 3 – 6
2 Brazil 2 -2
3 Australia 2 – 2
4 New Zealand 3 – 2
5 Uzbekistan 2- 0
