Greece keeps winning; Hungary and Spain share points

A day before the end of the group stage at the European U17 Men’s Championships in Manisa, there are still a lot of open questions regarding the standings in both divisions.

So far, none of the teams in Division 1 hasn’t mathematically secured a spot in the quarterfinals (the top two from each group will go directly to the quarterfinals, while the third-placed and the fourth-placed will have to play in the crossover round).

The only team with two wins in Division 1 is the leader of Group B, Greece, which defeated Serbia today (11:9), but despite having a perfect record, the Greeks haven’t booked a ticket for the quarterfinals yet. Italy earned a narrow win over the Netherlands (9:8) in the other match in this group and collected the first points in the tournament.

Like Greece, Hungary and Spain are unbeaten, but the two teams don’t have perfect records. The Hungarians and the Spaniards shared the points in a thrilling contest – 12:12, so they still share 1st and 2nd place in Group A. Montenegro is currently in position 3 after it defeated the Croats 15:13. Croatia is the only team in Division 1 that can’t move higher than 3rd place, and it will certainly search the road to the quarterfinals through the crossover round.

Turkey and France are the first teams to advance to the crossover round from Division 2.

2023 European U17 Men’s Championships, Day 2

Division 1

Croatia – Montenegro 13:15 (1:5, 4:3, 6:4, 2:3)

Hungary – Spain 12:12 (4:4, 3:2, 1:2, 4:4)

Montenegro jumped to a 6:1 lead in the first ten minutes of the game against Croatia, and it seemed that it would easily collect the points. However, the Croats didn’t surrender. They cut the deficit to one in the third quarter (9:10, 10:11, 11:12) and, finally, leveled in their first possession in the fourth – 12:12. But, shortly after, the Montenegrins went to 14:12. The Croats halved the difference. Montenegro’s Stupar decided everything with a power-play goal for 15:13 with 01:36 minutes left on the clock and Croatia lost its last chance to qualify directly for the quarterfinals.

The best scorers were Ivan Markovic (Montenegro) and Gabrijel Burburan (Croatia), with four goals.

Hungary got off to a good start but struggled to save a point. The Hungarians took a 4:1 lead after less than four minutes of play. Spain came back into the match quickly. It leveled in the last second of the first quarter (4:4). The difference was never bigger than a goal in the following two quarters. Midway through the fourth period, Spain went to 11:9. The Hungarians equalized (11:11). In the 31st minute, Granados gave Spain a 12:11 lead. In the end, Hungary saved a point with a power play goal from Toth at 00:44.

Captain Botond Balogh led the Hungarians’ attack again with six goals (he netted eight against Montenegro yesterday). Gomila scored three for Spain.

Standings: 1. Hungary 4 (+5), 2. Spain 4 (+1), 3. Montenegro 3, 4. Croatia 0.

GROUP B

Netherlands – Italy 8:9 (3:2, 1:2, 3:3, 1:2)

Serbia – Greece 9:11 (3:3, 3:2, 1:3, 2:3)

The Netherlands showed it could battle against the teams from the “Big Seven”, but left the pool empty-handed for the second day in a row. The Dutch were two steps ahead of the Italians early in the second period (4:2). Still, Italy started dominating and netted four straight goals to turn around the 2-goal deficit to a 6:4 lead. The Netherlands equalized at 6:6 and 7:7. Midway through the final quarter, the “Settebello” scored two goals in 43 seconds (9:7). The Dutch narrowed the distance when it was too late – 34 seconds before the end. Alessandro Salipante was the best scorer with three goals.

Greece returned from two goals down to beat Serbia and keep the top spot in the group. The Greeks had a slim 4:3 advantage at the beginning of the second quarter, but the Serbs made a 3:0 series for 6:4  in the 16th minute. However, Greece’s Christos Laskaridis closed the first half scoring for 5:6 with 13 seconds left on the clock. Greece went ahead in the third quarter (7:6, 8:7). In the 27th minute, Serbia caught up with the rival for the last time – 8:8. The Greeks responded with two quick goals in 29 seconds and kept a 2-goal advantage until the end. Iosif Kokkinos was Greece’s power engine with four goals. Serbia’s Luka Gladovic netted three.

Greece is unbeaten, but it still hasn’t secured a ticket in the quarterfinals. The last-placed Dutch, who will face Serbia tomorrow, aren’t out of the race for 2nd spot. There can be a lot of ups and downs in the standings if the third round brings surprising results. But, the teams are of similar quality, so nothing is a big surprise in this competition formula.

Standings: 1. Greece 6, 2.Serbia 3, 3. Italy 3, 4. Netherlands 0.

Division 2

GROUP C

France – Romania 14:8 (4:1, 2:3, 3:3, 5:1)

Turkey – Poland 17:8 (4:1, 6:2, 3:5, 4:0)

France recorded a convincing win over Romania thanks to an excellent first and fourth period and became the first team to qualify for the crossover round.

Turkey joined the French with a convincing win over Poland in the last game of the day. ELe Naipoglu contributed to a 17:8 victory with six goals.

France and Turkey will face off tomorrow in the decisive match for the top spot. The hosts will stay atop even if the match ends with no winner because of a slightly better goal difference than France.

Standings: 1. Turkey 6 (+13), 2. France 6 (+12), 3. Romania 0, 4. Poland 0.

GROUP D

Ukraine – Germany 13:12 (3:2, 4:1, 3:6, 3:3)

Malta – Georgia 16:7 (4:2, 4:2, 3:2, 5:1)

Before the last competition day in Group D, each of the four teams has three points and chances to qualify for the crossover round.

Malta, which lost to Germany yesterday, beat Georgia convincingly in Round 2. In the middle of the first quarter, the score was 2:2. Then, the Maltese scored four straight goals for – 6:2. By the end, they increased the margin to nine (16:7), with six goals from Elijah Schembri. Nikoloz Kurashvili scored five for Georgia.

Ukraine beat Germany by a goal, despite having a solid 7:3 advantage at halftime. The Germans were able to come back and take the lead in the fourth quarter (11:10 and 12:11). Still, Ukraine regained an advantage. Yarmoluik scored a winner for Ukraine. He converted a penalty to the final score of 13;:2 in the 31st minute.

Day 3

Group A: Hungary – Croatia (12:00), Spain – Montenegro (13:30)
Group B: Serbia – Netherlands (18:00), Greece – Italy (19:30)
Group C: Romania – Malta (16:30), Turkey – France (21:00)
Group D: Malta – Ukraine (09:00), Georgia – Germany (10:30)

Times are local

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