An encounter between Georgia and Germany was a highlight of the quarterfinal day of the men’s tournament at the 31st World University Games in Chengdu.
Georgia beat the Germans 16:15 only after a penalty shootout. Georgia’s goalkeeper Irakli Razmadze posted four, and Germany’s Felix Benke three shots in a penalty drama. Germany led 2:0 after three rounds of the shootout,but Georgia made a comeback.
The USA and Greece also played an exciting match, with the Americans coming from behind to secure a 10:8 victory.
The group winners cruised to wins over their Asian rivals. Hungary beat China 19:7. Italy defeated Japan by 13 goals – 22:9
The group stage in the women’s tournament finished today.
After an action-packed Friday with eight games, Saturday will be a day off at both tournaments. The semifinals are scheduled for Sunday.
2023 World University Games, men’s water polo tournament, Day 6
The duel between Georgia and Germany was an even contest, but Georgia was in front for most of time and was very close to a win o in regular time. The Georgians led 9:6 in the third quarter and had a 1-goal advantage (10:9) after 24 minutes. The teams exchanged the goals in the fourth period, with Germany leveled at 10:10 and 11:11. Still, the Georgians entered the final minute leading 12:11, since Andria Bitadze found the net at 01:21. Georgia kept the lead for a while. Still, the Germans prolonged the match in a shootout. They earned a man-up less than 10 seconds before the end (precisely 09.8 secs). Their head coach Milos Sekulic called a time-out, and they managed to prepare an action that ended with a goal. Denis Strelezkij beat the buzzer with an equalizer just 0.7 seconds from the end – 12:12.
The Germans started excellently in a shootout. They scored in the first two rounds, while their goalkeeper Benke saved two shots, so they led 2:0 before the third round. Both goalkeepers (Benke and Georgia’s Razmadze posted saves in the third round). Irakli Razmadze kept the momentum. He blocked the shots from the Germans in the fourth and the fifth round. Georgia’s scorers started finding the net, they scored two goals. After the series of five shots, the score was 2:2. There were no misses in the 6th round. Georgia’s Akhvlediani sent the ball into the net in the following round. At the other end of the pool, Razmadze posted another save and sent his team into the semifinals.
The best scorers of the game were Georgia’s Revaz Imnaishvili and Giorgi Magrakvelidze (four goals each). Denis Strelezkij scored three goals for Germany as well as Fynn Schuetze.
Greece got off to a good start in the game against the USA. The Europeans opened the match with two goals (2:0) and entered the second period leading 3:1. But the Americans started coming back. It seemed that Greece would have a slim 5:4 advantage at halftime. But, the USA equalized in the dying seconds of the first half (5:5). Midway through the third quarter, the Greeks were in front (7:6). Then, one of their best players, Nikolaos Gardikas was red-carded (an exclusion with substitution). Before the final period, the sides were tied at 8:8. Jack Larsen gave the USA a 9:8 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Kenney doubled the American’s advantage from a penalty shot in the 28th minute. Their goalkeeper Garet Griggs was up to the task in the fourth quarter. He didn’t concede a single goal. The USA secured a semifinal berth with a 10:8 win.
Makoto Kenney led the USA’s attack with three goals. Jack Larsen added two. Greeks Papasifakis, Grammatikos and Dimou scored two goals each.
Hungary showed no mercy to host China and recorded a 19:7 victory with four goals from Bendeguz Ekler and three from Botond Bobis. Hungary is the only team from Group A that reached the semifinals.
The duel between the Japanese and the Italian students was very similar to the encounters between the senior teams of Japan and the best European teams. The Japanese played well in the first half and imposed a strong rhythm. Still, Italy built an 8:5 advantage in the first half. Japan ran out of gas for the second half, and Italy secured a comfortable win with a 7:2 third quarter. The Italians didn’t slow in the fourth quarter, scoring many easy goals. At the end of the match, 13 goals separated the rivals – 22:9.
Two players scored half of Italy’s goals – Eduardo Campopiano six and Mario Del Basso five. Fuga Toda netted three for Japan.
Italy will meet Georgia, and Hungary will play against Team USA in the semifinals.
South Korea defeated Singapore 16:10 today and will play against Slovakia in the 9th-place game.
Quarterfinals
Hungary – China 19:7 (6:1 5:0, 3:4, 5:2)
Germany – Georgia 15:16 (3:3, 1:2, 5:5, 3:2, PSO 3:4)
Greece – USA 8:10 (3:1, 2:4, 3:3, 0:2)
Japan – Italy 9:22 (2:4, 3:4, 2:7, 2:7)
9th-11th place classification, semifinals
Singapore – South Korea 10:16 (1:4, 2:3, 4:5, 3:4)
Sunday, August 6
Semifinals: Hungary – USA, Italy – Georgia. Semifinals 5th – 8th place: China – Greece, Japan – Germany. 9th-place match: South Korea – Slovakia.
2023 World University Games, women’s water polo tournament, Day 5
The group stage in the women’s tournament finished today.
All matches of the last round of the women’s tournament were practically just formality, given that there were no open questions regarding the standings.
China defeated Australia 22:7 and finished the group stage with a perfect 5-0 record. Siya Yan scored five, and Xiao Chen four goals for the home side. These two teams will meet again in two days in the semifinals.
Italy trashed South Africa 20:4. The game was a piece of training before the semifinal game against Japan, which defeated Singapore today 19:5.
Group stage, Round 5
South Africa – Italy 4:20 (0:7,0:6, 3:5, 1:2)
China – Australia 22:7 (7:1, 6:2, 5:3, 4:1)
Singapore – Japan 5:19 (2:6, 0:6, 0:3, 3:4)
Standings: 1. China 15, 2. Italy 12, 3. Japan 9, 4. Australia 6, 5. South Africa 3, 6. Singapore 0.
Semifinals (Sunday): China – Australia, Italy – Japan. 5th-place match: South Africa – Singapore
