Greece, Croatia, Serbia, and Italy will play in the semifinals of the World U20 Championships in Kuwait City tomorrow.
Reigning champion Greece came back from 5:9 down to defeat the United States of America after a penalty shootout -15:12 (11:11 regular time). Serbia edged out Montenegro in the Balkan derby (10:9). Croatia defeated Spain after a hard-fought defensive battle (7:6), while Italy killed all excitements in the match against Japan – 15:7.
Greece won the gold medal in Belgrade two years ago. Croatia finished 2nd, while Serbia took bronze in Belgrade 2017. European champion Italy is a “returnee” to the World U20 Championships semifinals. Two years ago, Hungary was 4th.
Results of today’s classification matches
9th – 12th, semifinals: Australia – Canada 8:11, New Zealand – Hungary 4:20.
13th – 16th, semifinals: China – Russia 7:19, South Africa – Egypt 8:7.
17th – 20th, semifinals: Brazil – Iran 11:8, Uzbekistan – Kuwait 23:9.
Schedule for Thursday
Semifinals (1st – 4th)
Serbia – Italy
Croatia – Greece
Semifinals (5th-8th)
Montenegro – Japan
Spain – USA
Classification matches – for places 9th/10th: Hungary – Canada, 11th/12th: New Zealand – Australia, 13th/14th: Russia – South Africa, 15th/16th: China – Egypt , 17th/18th: Uzbekistan – Brazil, 19th/20th: Kuwait – Iran.
2019 World Men’s Junior Championships, Day 7
Quarterfinals
Greece – USA 15:12 (2:4, 3:3, 3:2, 3:2, PSO 4:1)
Greece: Gkiouvetsis 4, Kalogeropoulos 2 (+1 PSO), Nikolaidis 2 (+1 PSO), Papanastasiou 2 (+1 PSO), Kakaris 1, Chalyvopoulos (1 PSO).
USA: Ehrhardt 3, Osborne 3, Daube 2, Molthen 1 (+ 1 PSO), Woodhead 1 Gruwell 1.
The Americans were leading for most of the time, Greece had an advantage only once (10:9), while the world champions secured the penalty shootout thanks to a last gasp goal.
Team USA had a stunning start. After three and a half minutes, the Americans already had a vast 4:0 lead! The Greeks managed to reduce the gap in the second period (4:5), but Team USA went 7:5 up by halftime. In the third period, the Americans doubled an advantage (9:5), and then Greece started climbing back. The titleholders scored three goals in the last two minutes of the third quarter – Nikolaidis and Papanastasiou converted man-ups, while Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis scored from a penalty and their team trailed 8:9 at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
The Greeks earned a penalty shot in their first possession in the 4th period. Gkiouvetsis took responsibility once more and made no mistake. He equalized – 9:9, but he didn’t stop after this goal. A minute later, he scored from an extra to put Greece ahead – 10:9.
Jake Ehrhardt broke the Americans’ goalless phase, which lasted eight minutes, to level the score – 11:11 with 02:27 remaining on the clock. Just 38 seconds from the end, Ehrhardt added his 3rd goal, and Team USA was in front again – 11:10. But, Greece forced an exclusion 11 seconds from time. Kalogeropoulos converted a man-up just 0.5 seconds before the final buzzer to level the score 11:11.
Greece’s first four shooters made no mistake in the shootout. On the other side, Greece’s goalkeeper Mitrakis saved a shot from Daube in the 1st series. Ehrhardt hit the post. Only Ash scored, but it wasn’t enough.
There were even 29 major fouls in this match (14 against Greece, 15 against the USA), while Greece’s coach Lorantos received a red card early in the second period.
Serbia – Montenegro 10:9 (1:1, 2:4, 4:2, 3:2)
Serbia: Vucinic 4, Brankovic 3, Sulc 1, Barac 1, Stanojevic 1.
Montenegro: Vuskovic 4, Radovic 2, Macic 1, Vucurovic 1, Mijuskovic 1.
Serbia edged out Montenegro in the Balkan derby, that was a balanced battle. The Serbs took a 2:1 lead early in the second period, but Montenegro earned a 5:3 advantage before the middle break. Deep into the third period, Montenegro was still keeping a 2-goal distance (7:5), but the Serbs leveled with two action goals in the 27th minute (7:7).
Montenegro went ahead once more – 8:7 five minutes from the end, but Serbia responded with two goals midway through the last period and earned its first lead in the second half of the match – 9:8. Montenegro’ Macic scored for 9:9 quickly after that. Stefan Brankovic scored from an extra player in the 29th minute and secured the 10:9 win for Serbia.
Djordje Vucinic (Serbia) and Uros Vuskovic (Montenegro) were the best scorers. Each netted 4 goals, but Stefan Brankovic was the man of the match. He scored all three goals for Serbia in the fourth period.
Montenegro had 12 players in the roster because Dusan Matkovic has been suspended for brutality from yesterday’s match against Hungary. He will also miss tomorrow’s encounter between Montenegro and Japan.
Spain – Croatia 6:7 (3:1, 1:2, 0:3, 2:1)
Spain: Sanahuja 1, Ponferrada 1, Linares 1, Valera 1, Montes 1, Rodriguez 1.
Croatia: Penava 2, Biljaka 2, Herceg 2, Vrdoljak 1, Krzic 1.
Spain played very well in the group stage, while Croatia struggled to secure second place in Group A, behind Serbia and ahead of Japan. However, the Croats get into good shape in the crucial moments – for the elimination matches.
Spain had a better start. The Spaniards led 3:1 and 4:2. After the Spaniards’ 4th goal, Croatia held them scoreless for 13 minutes and netted four goals to secure a 6:4 lead before the final break. Spain opened the last period with two goals and equalized 6:6 with 04:55 remaining on the clock. Just 39 seconds later, Jerko Penava converted a man-up to give Croatia a 7:6 lead. In the last four minutes, defenses dominated, nobody could find the net, and Croatia advanced to the semifinals.
Italy – Japan 17:5 (5:2, 5:2, 3:0, 4:1)
Italy: Novara 8, Mezzarobba 3, Spione 2, M. Di Martire 2, Guidi 1, Tartaro 1.
Japan: Inaba 2, Maita 1, Kobayashi 1, Takahashi 1.
After an exhausting match against Croatia (10:12) on the last day of the group stage and yesterday’s breathtaking win over Australia in the crossover round (11:10), Japan ran out of gas for the quarterfinals. Italy dominated from the first until the last minute and cruised to a 17:5 win.
Classification 9th – 12th
New Zealand – Hungary 4:20 (2:6, 1:1, 0:5, 1:8)
New Zealand: Catlin 2, Brown 1, Paterson 1.
Hungary: Bobis 4, Agh 3, Dala 3, Szeghalmi 3, Baksa 2, Magyar 2, Turnai 1, Vigvari 1, Fekete 1.
Australia – Canada 8:11 (1:1, 3:4, 2:2, 2:4)
Australia: Negus 4, Vos 2,Rector 1, Anstey 1.
Canada: Cote 5, Djerkovic 3, D’Souza 2, Henning 1.
Classification 13th – 16th
China – Russia 7:19 (1:5, 3:4, 1:4, 2:6)
China: Gao 3, Liu 1, He 1, Shi 1, Wang 1.
Russia: Pelikh 5, Mikhailov 4, I. Vasilev 3, Zinnurov 2, Mersh 1, Mirziev 1, Makhiyanov 1, Frolov 1, E. Vasilev 1.
South Africa – Egypt 8:7 (1:1, 1:2, 3:2, 3:2)
South Africa: Howard 4, Swanepoel 2, Faber 1, Stone 1.
Egypt: Farahat 5, Bassel 1, Elsapagh 1.
Classification 17th – 20th
Brazil – Iran 11:8 (4:1, 2:0, 3:5, 2:2)
Brazil: Vizacre 5, Pires 3, Fichman 1, Pessin 1, Campedelli 1.
Iran:Lalehsiahpirani 3, Aghaei 2, Moradinoghondar 1, Khosor 1, Jalilipour 1.
Uzbekistan – Kuwait 23:9 (5:5, 7:0, 7:3, 4:1)
Uzbekistan: Kutmonbekov 7, Khoshimov 5, Osipyan 3, Sobirjonov 2, Dedabaev 1, Kenjaev 1, Turgunov 1, Botirov 1, Yusufjanov 1, Makhmudjonov 1.
Kuwait: M. Dashti 5, Jasem 2, Alotaibi 1, Ashkanani 1.
