The European qualifications for the World League final continue next week, with Round 2.
However, the competition in Group A has been almost finished. Hungary, Montenegro and Romania were drawn into this group.
Hungary and Montenegro faced off in the first round. Romania was supposed to play against Montenegro next Tuesday and to host Hungary on March 8.
But Romania won’t play in the World League this season. That’s something that has been rumored for a while. Today, the Montenegrin Federation confirmed that the match between Montenegro and Romania had been canceled.
Therefore, the remaining two teams, Hungary and Montenegro, have already qualified for the European Final Eight, which will be held in Budapest between April 28 and 30.
The Group Stage of the European qualifications for the World League has been created as a single round-robin competition (each team plays one home and one away match in the group).
Hungary beat Montenegro in the first round 14:9, but that doesn’t mean that Hungary will be in 1st, and Montenegro in 2nd place in Group A.
The Montenegrin Water Polo Federation announced that an agreement had been reached that Montenegro and Hungary will play one more match since only these two teams are in this group.
The game will be played in Montenegro on March 9. The team which wins in aggregate score will finish in 1st place. The hosts will have a demanding task to overcome a 5-goal deficit.
The Group Stage of the European Qualifications will be completed a week after the new encounter between Hungary and Montenegro. The postponed duel of Round 1, Germany-France, has been rescheduled for March 15.
Men’s World League, European Qualifications
Group Stage
January 18
Group A: Hungary – Montenegro 14:9
Group B: Germany – France (postponed to March 15)
Group C: Serbia – Italy 12:9
Group D: Greece – Croatia 11:12
February 15
Group B: France – Spain (18:00 CET)
Group C: Italy – Slovakia (19:00 CET)
Group D: Croatia- Russia (19:00 CET)
March 8/9
Group A: Montenegro – Hungary
Group B: Spain – Germany
Group C: Slovakia – Serbia
Group D: Russia – Greece
Final 8 (Budapest, April 28 – 30)
April 14: Quarterfinals (1A – 2B; 1B – 2A; 1C – 2D; 1D – 2C).
April 15: Semifinals
April 16: Final day
Four teams will represent Europe at the World League Super FInal (Strasbourg, July 25 – 30).France is automatically qualified as a host.So, if France reaches the European semifinals, all four winners of the duels in the quarterfinals will advance to the Super Final. If France is eliminated before the semifinals, only medal winners at the Budapest tournament will qualify for the Super Final.
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