Despite losing to Hungary earlier today, Montenegro can celebrate winning their home tournament in Herceg Novi this evening.
While the hosts were eventually beaten on the last day of the Montenegro U16 Cup, a 13-11 victory tonight over Croatia was enough to get them over the line.
Croatia, who were unbeaten until the last game today, actually ended up missing out on second place. The spot was pinched by their neighbours, Serbia, as the Serbs won both of their last two games (19-8 against the Netherlands & 12-8 against Italy).
Hungary’s unexpected win against Montenegro was not enough to climb them higher than 4th, while Italy finished 5th – only managing to beat the winless Netherlands.
The tournament was a warm-up for the U16 World Championships in Volos, which takes place later this summer.
Live scores and statistics of all the games in Herceg Novi are still available via our Total Waterpolo Arena.
Today’s Results
Morning session
Netherlands 8-19 Serbia (2-5, 0-6, 2-6, 4-2) LIVESCORE
Netherlands: T. Boorsma, J. van der Weijden, E. De Zwaan 1, R. Terlouw, D. de Vries 1, E. van de Brom, M. Spee 2, S. Willekens, B. Oerlemans, R. Edelbroek 2, M. Hoegen 1, G. de Rijk, F. Jukic, W. De Ligny 1, S. Van Benten
Serbia: D. Dimkovic, K. Bodiroga 1, F. Novakovic 3, V. Krdzalin, P. Micanovic 1, V. Kojic 1, L. Gladovic, J. Spasovic, N. Lazic 2, L. Boskovic 3, V. Conkic 1, L Dimic 1, L. Canepa, A. Karalic, V. Savic
Luka Gladovic scored a quadruple in Serbia’s first game of the day, which was bolstered by hat-tricks from Luka Boskovic and Filip Novakovic. Mila Spree’s two goals in the final quarter helped the Netherlands regain some pride, but there was no doubt the Oranges were second best this morning.
Italy 11-15 Croatia (3-4, 4-4, 2-3, 2-4) LIVESCORE
Italy: F. Castrucci, E. Miraldi, L. Mantovani, A. Barigelli 2, M. Arco, D. Tresa, F. Pettonati 1, D. Varavallo, S. De Vecchis 3, L. De Marchi, F. Scordo 1, A. Constanzo 2, G. Valle 2, V. Andreuzzi, M. Crisafulli
Croatia: M. Prizmic, K. Dragosevic 3, J. Kovacevic 1, M. Curkovic, G. Burburan, A. Raci 3, N. Prezzi 1, V. Toncinic 1, M. Doknic, A. Galic 2, B. Duho, B. Bucevic 2, A. Jerkovic 1, T. Skegro, N. Batos
It was a great second half from Croatia that enabled them beat Italy in the morning session. Karlo Dragosevic and Arijan Raci each netted three times for Croatia to secure a valuable win.
Montenegro 8-9 Hungary (2-2, 3-3, 1-3, 2-1) LIVESCORE
Montenegro: N. Bilafer, T. Matijasevic 1, A. Vavic, N. Petrovic, M. Milinic, L. Kovacic, D. Stupar 2, S. Janovic 3, P. Vicevic, D. Samardzic, S. Gojkovic 1, R. Vukanic, O. Moracanin 1, I. Kojicic, M. Vukasinovic
Hungary: M. Maser, M. Zeman 3, B. Simon 1, Z. Doroszlai, M. Basity, M. Toth, T. Tatrai, V. Regos, Z. Nagy 2, B. Haverkampf 2, G. Simon, C. Lugosi 1, I. Budai, B. Szirtes, G. Kiss
Two goals from Mark Nagy in the third quarter ensured that Hungary secured a well-deserved, but unexpected, victory over Montenegro. Marton Zeman (3) and Bence Haverkampf (2) were key to the Magyar’s victory against a previously undefeated home side.
The defeat for the Montenegrins ended up being inconsequential, as their later victory over Croatia was enough to top the table.
Evening session
Serbia 12-8 Italy (4-0, 2-2, 5-2, 1-4) LIVESCORE
Serbia: V. Savic, K. Bodiroga 1, F. Novakovic 1, V. Krdzalin, P. Micanovic, V. Kojic, L. Gladovic 3, V. Conkic 2, U. Adamovic, L. Boskovic 3, S. Krstic 2, L. Dimic, L. Canepa, N. Lazic, V. Bojkovic
Italy: F. Castrucci, E. Miraldi, L. Mantovani, A. Barigelli, M. Arco, D. Tresa 1, F. Pettonati 1, D. Varavallo, S. De Vecchis 1, L. De Marchi 3, F. Scordo 1, A. Constanzo, G. Valle 1, V. Andreuzzi, M. Crisafulli
Serbia ended their tournament in Herceg Novi on a high, beating Italy 12-8, and securing 2nd place – something that seemed unlikely at one point. The Serbs owe much of their victory to their lightning-quick start – winning the first quarter 4-0 (Boskovic 2, Conkic & Krstic).
Italy steadied in the second, but the game was practically wrapped up for the Serbs after the third period (11-4). To the Junior Settebello’s credit, they made the score look very reasonable in the last eight minutes, narrowing the deficit to four scores, with Lorenzo De March leading the fightback in vein with two goals.
Hungary 18-7 Netherlands (3-1, 5-2, 7-3, 3-1) LIVESCORE
Hungary: M. Maser, M. Zeman 1, A. Mero, Z. Doroszlai 1, M. Basity 1, M. Toth 2, T. Tatrai, V. Regos 2, Z. Nagy, B. Haverkampf 3, G. Simon 3, C. Daniel 1, I. Budai 2, B. Szirtes 2, S. Borbely
Netherlands: T. Boorsma, J. van der Weijden 1, E. De Zwaan 1, R. Terlouw 3, D. De Vries, E. van den Brom, M. Spee, S. Willekens, B. Oerlemans 1, R. Edelbroek 1, M. Hoegen, G. de Rijk, F. Jukic, W. De Ligny, S. Van Benten
In the second game of the evening session, the Hungarians thrashed the Netherlands, winning 18-7.
Bence Haverkampf and Gergely Simon each converted three times, while Martin Toth, Vince Regos, and Istvan each netted a pair of goals for the Magyars.
Montenegro 13-11 Croatia (3-3, 3-1, 3-2, 4-5) LIVESCORE
Montenegro: D. Ogurlic, T. Matijasevic, A. Roganovic, N. Petrovic, M. Milinic 2, T. Perov 1, D. Stupar 4, S. Janovic 2, P. Vicevic 1, D. Samardzic, S. Gojkovic, R. Vukanic, O. Moracanin 3, I. Kojicic, M. Vukasinovic
Croatia: N. Batos, K. Dragosevic 1, J. Kovacevic, M. Curkovic 2, G. Burburan, A. Raci, N. Prezzi 4, V. Toncinic 1, M. Glavinic, A. Galic 1, B. Duho, B. Bucevic 1, A. Jerkovic 1, T. Skegro, M. Prizmic
In the last game under the lights, Montenegro survived a late scare to become the champions of their home tournament.
The hosts played with real confidence for large spells of the game; Danilo Stupar (4), Ognjen Moracanin (3), Milos Milinic (2) and Srdan Janovic (2) were the multi-scorers.
Montenegro led 9-6 into the last, and maintained their three goal lead midway through the fourth. But 4 goals in 3 minutes (Curkovic, Jerkovic, and Prezzi 2) for the Croatians really threatened to spoil the Montenegrin’s party, putting the score at 12-11 with a minute on the clock.
But with 47 seconds on the clock, Ognjen Moracanin sealed his hat-trick on a power-play scenario on the right, and gave his nation a home triumph to celebrate
Standings
- Montenegro – 5 – 12pts
- Serbia – 5 – 10pts
- Croatia – 5 – 10pts
- Hungary – 5 – 9pts
- Italy – 5 – 3pts
- Netherlands – 5 – 0pt
