A traditional “Samartzidis Cup” for male national teams started in Heraklion, the capital of the Greek island of Crete.
Besides host Greece, Montenegro, Germany and the Netherlands participate in the tournament. All four teams prepare for the European Championships in Split. The spectators enjoyed festivals of goals on Day 1.
Greece beat Germany in the opening match of the day – 15:5. The Germans kept up with the Olympic silver medalists in the first quarter (2:2). At halftime, Greece led 5:3. The hosts, led by Stylianos Argyropouls and Emmanouil Solanakis, broke the rival in the second half.
Montenegro, which played in ar the World League Super Final in Strasbourg between Friday and Wednesday, didn’t arrive in Iraklion with the same team that played in Strasbourg. Some of the players who missed the World League (Marko Petkovic, Dejan Lazovic, Miroslav Perkovic) are on the roster, as well as leftie Aleksa Ukopina. He played neither in Strasbourg nor at the World Championships in Budapest.
There were even 29 goals in the game between Montenegro and the Netherlands. The Montenegrins recorded a 16:13 victory. Returnee Aleksa Ukropina was the best scorer with five goals.
Tomorrow, Montenegro will face Germany, while Greece will play against the Netherlands.
Day 1
Greece – Germany 15:5(2:2, 3:1, 5:1, 5:1)
Greece: Argyropoulos 3, Solanakis 3, Vlachopoulos 2, Skoumpakis 2, Papanastasiou 2, Genidounias 1, Gkiouvetsis 1, Alalfagkis 1.
Germany:Strelezkij 2, Cuk 1, Rotermund 1, Juengling 1.
Montenegro – Netherlands 16:13 (6:4, 3:3, 5:4, 2:2)
Montenegro: Ukropina 5, Da.Radovic 3, Vujovic 2, Mrsic 1, Murisic 1, Perkovic 1, Vidovic 1, Djurdjic 1, Petkovic 1.
Netherlands: Kas te Riele 5, Winklehorst 2, van IIjperen 2, Gbadamassi 1, Muller 1, de Weerd 1, de Mey 1
