There were no surprises on the last day of the Group Stage at the World U20 World Championships in Kuwait City.
Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Russia and Hungary defeated their respective non-Europan rivals in groups A, B and C. In both today’s matches of Group D, the teams from Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) celebrated wins.
Italy and Serbia collected points with ease and cemented top spots in their groups. Italy and Serbia advanced to the quarterfinals, along with Greece and Spain, which secured quarterfinal berths yesterday.
Favorites recorded wins with big margins in most of today’s encounters.
Two matches were pretty close battles. The winners of these two games will meet tomorrow in the crossover round.
Croatia was three goals down before the final quarter of the clash with Japan (9:12), but the Croats managed to take both points (14:12) and secure the second place in Group A.
Croatia finished 2nd in Group A and will face New Zealand in the crossover round. New Zealand defeated Brazil 8:6 to clinch the third place in Group D.
Crossover round (Tuesday)
Match 1: Croatia (2A) – New Zealand (3B)
Match 2: Hungary (2B) – Montenegro (3C)
Match 3: Japan (3A) – Australia (2D)
Match 4: Canada (3B) – USA (2C)
Quarterfinals (Wednesday)
Serbia (1A) – winner Match 2
Spain (1B) – winner Match 1
Italy (1C) – winner Match 3
Greece (1D) – winner Match 4
Rankings 13th – 20th place (Tuesday): China (4A) – Uzbekistan (5D), Russia (4B) – Kuwait (5C), South Africa (5A) – Brazil (4D), Egypt (5B) – Iran (4C).
2019 World Men’s Junior Championships, Day 5
Group A
Croatia – Japan 14:12 (5:6, 4:2, 0:4, 5:0)
Croatia: Herceg 4, Paparic 3, Zuvela 2, Penava 2, Vrdoljak 2, Krekovic 1.
Japan: Inaba 3, Takahashi 2, Suzuki 2, Yamada 2, Tsuta 1, Hizume 1, Maita 1.
Serbia – China 16:4 (5:1, 2:0, 5:2, 4:1)
Serbia: Nesic 4, Vucinic 3, Martinovic 2, Barac 2, Brankovic 2, Stanojevic 1,Sulc 1, Pljevancic 1.
China: Wang 2, Gao 2.
Serbia taught a lesson to China to collect new 2 points and to confirm the 1st place in the group.
But, the other favorite in this group, Croatia, didn’t found it easy to defeat Japan in the match which decided the 2nd-placed team. The first quarter, which saw 11 goals, belonged to the Japanese (6:5). Croatia earned a 2-goal lead deep into the second quarter (10:8), but Japan reduced the gap in the last minute of this quarter, while it kept the Croats scoreless in the third quarter.
Before the final break, Japan had a nice 12:9 lead, but the last twist was yet to come. Croatia tightened the defense in the last eight minutes, and they didn’t let the Japanese score a single goal in the fourth period, while they netted five. Croatia equalized after less than three minutes of play in the fourth quarter (12:12). After that, there were no goals for a while. Finally, Herceg nailed his 3rd goal to put Croatia in front – 13:12, with 76 seconds to go. After that, Japan had a man-up attack, but they missed the chance. Herceg netted his fourth goal 24 seconds from the end to confirm Croatia’s win – 14:12.
1 Serbia 4 – 8
2 Croatia 4 – 6
3 Japan 4 – 4
4 China 4 – 2
5 South Africa 4 – 0
Group B
Hungary – Canada 17:7 (3:1, 3:3, 6:1, 5:2)
Hungary: Bobis 4, Fekete 3, Baksa 2, Dala 2, Vigvari 2, Aranyi 2, Szeghalmi 1, Magyar 1.
Canada: Cote 2, D’Souza 2, Gloade 2, Djerkovic 1.
Russia – Egypt 17:9 (4:3, 5:2, 6:0, 2:4)
Russia: I. Vasilev 4, Mersh 3, Mikhailov 3, Makhiyanov 3, Zinnurov 2, Frolov 1, E. Vasilev 1.
Egypt: Bassel 3, Elsapagh 2, Rezk 2, Hamed 2.
Hungary defeated Canada and secured the 2nd position in the group. The Hungarians opened the match with a 6:2 lead. Canada cut the deficit by the halftime (4:6), but after the middle break, the match turned into a one-sided contest and Hungary achieved a convincing win.
Russia downed Egypt and finished 4th, ahead of the Africans.
1 Spain 4 – 8
2 Hungary 4 – 6
3 Canada 4 – 4
4 Russia 4 – 2
5 Egypt 4 – 0
Group C
Italy – Kuwait 18:7 (3:2, 6:2, 5:2, 4:1)
Italy: Mezzarobba 4, Tozzi 3, Novara 3, Tartaro 2, Narciso 2, M. Di Martire 2, Ferrero 1, Spione 1.
Kuwait: Almajadi 2, Jasem 1, Alotaibi 1, M. Dashti 1, H. Dashti 1, Alhammad 1.
Montenegro – Iran 17:6 (4:0, 4:2, 2:2, 7:2)
Montenegro: Vuskovic 4, Mijuskovic 4, Vucurovic 2, Matkovic 2, Draskovic 1, Macic 1, Radovic 1,Perkovic 1, Franeta 1.
Iran: Moradinoghondar 2, Pourang 1, Hassany 1, Barzegarisharifabad 1, Jalilipour 1.
The last round of Group C saw the expected outcomes. The European teams were too strong for the Arabians.
Italy started slowly against Kuwait and led 3:2 after the first quarter, but they jumped to a 6:2 lead by the middle of the second period and never looked back.
Montenegro kept Iran goalless until the 14th minute. Before Iran’s first goal, the Montenegrins had already built a 7:0 advantage. At halftime, it stood 8:2. The third quarter was balanced, while Montenegro stretched the margin to 11 in the fourth quarter.
1 Italy 4 – 7
2 USA 4 – 6
3 Montenegro 4 – 5
4 Iran 4 – 2
5 Kuwait 4 – 0
Group D
Australia – Uzbekistan 25:7 (8:2, 8:1, 5:2, 4:2)
Australia: Oberman 4, Gillfeather 4, Bruce 4, Putt 3, Negus 3, Anstey 2, Murphy 2, Vos 1, Rector 1, Byrnes 1.
Uzbekistan:Turgunov 3, Osipyan 2, Sobirjonov 1, Yusufjanov 1.
Brazil – New Zealand 6:8 (1:4. 2:2, 2:1, 1:1)
Brazil: Campedelli 3, Santos 1, Pires 1, Vizacre 1.
New Zealand: Morris 3, Paterson 3, Ratima 1, Brown 1
As expected, Australia left no chance to Uzbekistan and retained the 2nd place.
New Zealand beat Brazil thanks to a stunning start. Early in the second period, the “Kiwis” built a 4-goal gap (5:1). The Brazilians started climbing back and came very close (6:7) in the third minute of the 4th quarter. But, New Zealand didn’t let the South Americans go further. Patterson converted a man-up to double New Zealand’s advantage (8:6) two minutes and three seconds from the end. There were no goals anymore.
1 Greece 4 – 8
2 Australia 4 – 6
3 New Zealand 4 – 4
4 Brazil 4 – 2
5 Uzbekistan 4 – 0
