Serbia beat Croatia 11:6 in the match which highlighted Day 4 at the World U20 Championships in Kuwait City.

The other big match of the day was an encounter between Italy and Montenegro, which ended with no winner – 12:12, after a lot of thrills.

Spain defeated Canada 15:7 to confirm the 1st place in Group C and joined Greece in the quarterfinals. Greece, which secured the 1st place in Group D yesterday, finished the Preliminary Stage with a perfect 4-0 record, as well as Spain.

Serbia still hasn’t mathematically confirmed the top spot in its group, but it is hard to expect that the Serbs won’t retain the first place after tomorrow’s match against China.

The point taken in the clash with Montenegro will be enough for the Italians to keep the 1st place in Group C, if they don’t allow a huge surprise in the encounter with Kuwait on Day 5.

2019 World Men’s Junior Championships, Day 4

Group A

Serbia – Croatia 11:6 (4:2, 2:2, 2:2, 3:0)

Serbia: Vucinic 4, Sulc 3, Barac 1, Nesic 1, Stanojevic 1, Radovic 1.
Croatia: Vrdoljak 3, Bajic 1, Penava 1, Zuvela 1.

Japan – South Africa 26:11 (8:2, 8:5, 2:4, 8:0)

Japan: Inaba 8, Maita 4, Watanabe 4, Suzuki 3, Kobayashi 3, Yamada 1, Tsuta 1, Hizume 1, Takahashi 1.
South Africa: Howard 4, Stone 2, Faber 2, Baker 1, Swanepoel 1, Dowsett 1.

Serbia led throughout the match against Croatia. The Serbs earned an opening 2:0 advantage and maintained the distance until the first break (4:2), while they went 5:2 up early in the second quarter. Deep into this period, the Croats reduced the gap to one (4:5), but Djordje Vucinic netted his 4th goal a minute before the middle break and the Serbs were 6:4 up at halftime.

The second half opened Croatia’s Marin Vrdoljak, who converted a penalty for 5:6. However, Serbia responded with two goals for 8:5. The 6th and the last goal from Croats came in the 22nd minute when Bajic scored from an extra for (6:8). In the last quarter, Serbia produced a 3:0 run for an 11:6 victory.

There were 33 major fouls in this game. The Serbs were in trouble with the foul count. Croatia had even 18 shots with an extra player (or two men up), but they scored just two goals. Serbia’s conversion was 2/9. Both sides had 3 penalty shots. All 6 shots were converted to goals.

Serbia’s goalkeeper Vladimir Misovic, who made 14 saves, was voted the man of the match.

Japan, led by Yusuke Inaba, defeated South Africa in a scoring festival – 26:11.

1 Serbia 3 – 6
2 Croatia 3 – 4
3 Japan 3 – 4
4 China 3 – 2
5 South Africa 4 – 0

Monday schedule: Croatia- Japan, Serbia – China.

Group B

Canada – Spain 7:15 (1:3, 3:5, 0:3, 3:5)

Canada: Cote 3, D’Souza 2, Djerkovic 1, Gloade 1.
Spain: Sanahuja 4, Paul 4, Ponferrada 2, Asensio 2, Valera 1, Alegre 1, Montes 1

Russia – Hungary 9:12 (1:2, 1:3, 3:6,4:1)

Russia: Frolov 3, I. Vasilev 2, Makhiyanov 2, Pelikh 1, E. Vasilev 1.
Hungary:Magyar 4, Bobis 2, Vigvaru 2, Baksa 1, Fekete 1, Szeghalmi 1, Aranyi 1.

Spain controlled the match against Canada from the beginning. The Spaniards went 5:1 up early in the second quarter. Canada cut the deficit to two (4:6), but the Spaniards gained a huge 7-goal lead before the fourth quarter (11:4) and secured themselves the relaxed ending of the match.

The margin between Russia and Hungary was just three goals after the last buzzer, despite the Hungarians dominated for most of the time. After a slow start, the Hungarians gained a 3-goal advantage by the middle break (5:2), while they jumped to an 11:5 lead before the final quarter. They slowed down in the last eight minutes. On Day 5, Hungary will battle with Canada for the 2nd place.

1 Spain 4 – 8
2 Hungary 3 – 4
3 Canada 3 – 4
4 Russia 3 – 0
5 Egypt 3 – 0

Monday schedule: Hungary – Canada, Russia – Egypt.

Group C

Montenegro – Italy 12:12 (1:4, 3:1, 4:3, 4:4)

Montenegro: Mijuskovic 4, Vuskovic 3, Cetkovic 2, Radovic 1, Franeta 1, Perkovic 1.
Italy: M. Di Martire 2, Ferrero 2, Mezzarobba 2, Spione 2, Narciso 1,G. Di Martire 1, Guidi 1, Novara 1.

Kuwait – USA 8:16 (3:3, 2:4, 1:5, 2:4)

Kuwait:Jasem 3, Hasan 2, Ashkanani 2.
USA: Zaan 4, Vavic 3, Osborne 2, Daube 2, Loth 2, Gruwell 1, Yuno 1, Ehrhardt 1.

Montenegro and Italy featured the most exciting match of the day. The Italians jumped to a 5:1, but Montenegro was able to come back and leveled the score midway through the third quarter (7:7). Italy earned a new lead (8:7), but Montenegro’s Branko Franeta converted a man-up a second before the final break and the rivals were tied before the last eight minutes (8:8).

Early in the last period, Italy earned a slim lead twice (9:8, 10:9). However, the Montenegrins managed to equalize on both occasions, while they went ahead by a goal from Mijuskovic with five minutes to go. Italy responded immediately -11:11, but the Montenegrins earned a new advantage – 12:11 with 90 seconds remaining on the clock. Just 38 seconds later Mezzarobba found the net for the final score – 12:12.

As expected, Team USA defeated Kuwait. The hosts fought bravely, they kept up with the Americans for a while, but the USA blew away Kuwait in the second half. The Americans are in the 1st place now, but it is hard to expect that they will stay atop. They have a bye day tomorrow, while Italy and Montenegro will face easy tasks.

1 USA 4 – 6
2 Italy 3 – 5
3 Montenegro 3 – 3
4 Iran 3 – 2
5 Kuwait 3 – 0

Monday schedule: Italy – Kuwait, Montenegro – Iran.

Group D

Brazil – Australia 6:9 (1:1, 2:1, 0:2, 3:5)

Brazil: Vizacre 2, Pessin 1, Pires 1, Campedelli 1, Fichman 1.
Australia: Gillfeather 3, Negus 2, Bruce 2, Anstey 1, Taylor 1.

Uzbekistan – Greece 4:27 (1:8, 0:6, 0:8, 3:5)

Uzbekistan: Osipyan , Azizov 1, Turgunov 1, Zusufjanov 1.
Greece: Kakaris 5, Chalyvopoulos 4,Nikolaidis 3, Rompopoulos 3, Goniotakis 3, Papageorgiou 2, Papanastasiou 2, Alafragkis 2, Kaloeropoulos 1,Gkouvetsis 1, Diplaros 1.

Greece confirmed the top spot with an easy win over Uzbekistan. The reigning champions will have three days off. Their next match will be the quarterfinal game on Wednesday.

Australia secured second place after a hard-fought battle with Brazil. The South Americans opened the match better and led 3:2 at halftime. The „Aussies“ held the opponent scoreless in the third quarter and gained a 4:3 advantage before the last break. After two minutes of play in the fourth period, Australia doubled an advantage (5:3), Brazil pulled one goal back, but a few minutes later Australia went 7:4 up and Brazil couldn’t come back.

1 Greece 4 – 8
2 Australia 3 – 4
3 Brazil 3 – 2
4 New Zealand 3 – 2
5 Uzbekistan 3 -0

Monday schedule: Australia – Uzbekistan, Brazil – New Zealand.