Hungary won the gold medal at the first-ever men’s U15 European Water Polo Championships.
The competition was held in Burgas (Bulgaria), on the Black Sea Coast. The Hungarians convincingly defeated Montenegro in today’s final game – 15:9. Italy earned the bronze medal, Greece finished 4th.
Hungary and Montenegro clinched 2nd places in their respective groups of the 1st stage of the tournament.
Both teams ousted group winners in the quarterfinals. Montenegro edged out Croatia, by a last-gasp goal 24 seconds from the end (10:9). Hungary defeated Serbia 12:11. The Serbs had an 11:10 lead in the middle of the last quarter.
The Hungarians were two goals down after the first quarter of the semifinal match against Italy (0:2), but celebrated an 8:6 win in the end. Montenegro advanced to the gold medal match with a convincing 13:8 victory over Greece.
The winner in today’s final was decided in the first half. The Hungarians stunned Montenegro with a 5:0 lead in the first quarter. The Montenegrins scored their first goal in the first possession in the second quarter, from a penalty shot (1:5), but Hungary produced a new 5:0 run and jumped to a 9:1 lead. At halftime, it was 9:2. The Montenegrins found their form after the middle break and came close (5:9). But, it was too late. The Hungarians went 11:6 up before the fourth quarter. In the last eight minutes, Hungary increased the margin of the win to 6. The final score was 15:9 (5:0, 4:2, 2:4, 4:3).
Italy defeated Greece in a very balanced bronze-medal match 9:8 (1:2, 3:1, 2:3, 3:2). The Greeks opened the second period with a goal for a 3:1 lead. Italy started climbing back and turned around a 2-goal deficit to a 2-goal lead (5:3) early in the third period. The Greeks managed to equalize on three occasions (5:5, 6:6, 7:7). Italy built a new 2-goal lead early three and a half minutes before the end (9:7), and Greece couldn’t come back anymore.
Georgia was the surprise team of the tournament. The Georgians claimed the 6th place. Serbia ran over Georgia in today’s match for the 5th place – 12:3 (6:2, 3:0, 2:0, 1:1). The boys from Georgia produced a huge upset yesterday, by defeating Croatia in the semifinals of the classification 5th-8th (11:10 after penalty shootout).
Spain was better than Croatia in the match for the 7th place, which opened today’s program, – 9:7 (2:2, 2:0, 4:4, 1:1).
Other games for the final rankings were played on Friday.
Final rankings: 1. Hungary, 2. Montenegro, 3. Italy, 4. Greece, 5. Serbia, 6. Georgia, 7. Spain, 8. Croatia, 9. Russia, 10. Slovakia, 11. Slovenia, 12. Turkey, 13. Romania, 14. Bulgaria, 15. Netherlands, 16. Belarus.
LEN Men’s European U15 Water Polo Championships 2019 (Burgas, July 21-28)
Group stage (Day 1 – Day 3)
Group A
Hungary – Slovakia 20:6
Croatia – Romania 12:5
Romania – Slovakia 5:6
Hungary – Croatia 8:9
Croatia – Slovakia 15:7
Hungary – Romania 13:4
Standings: 1. Croatia 9, 2. Hungary 6, 3. Slovakia 3, 4. Romania 0.
Group B
Spain – Turkey 14:9
Greece – Bulgaria 24:4
Spain – Greece 5:6
Bulgaria – Turkey 7:17
Spain – Bulgaria 18:4
Greece – Turkey 15:10
Standings: 1. Greece 9, 2. Spain 6, 3. Turkey 3, 4. Bulgaria 0.
Group C
Georgia – Russia 9:9
Italy – Netherlands 13:7
Russia – Netherlands 12:10
Italy – Georgia 12:8
Italy – Russia 11:6
Georgia – Netherlands 14:11
Standings: 1.Italy 9, 2. Georgia 4, 3.Russia 4, 4. Netherlands 0.
Group D
Montenegro – Belarus 19:7
Serbia – Slovenia 22:4
Belarus – Slovenia 9:14
Serbia – Montenegro 14:9
Serbia – Belarus 17:4
Montenegro – Slovenia 10:8
Standings: 1. Serbia 9, 2. Montenegro 6, 3. Slovenia 3, 4. Belarus 0.
Day 4
Classification 13-16,semifinals
Romania – Netherlands 9:8
Bulgaria – Belarus 11:8
Crossover round
Hungary – Russia 11:5
Georgia – Slovakia 12:8
Spain – Slovenia 12:11
Montenegro – Turkey 14:4
Day 5
Classification 9-12, semifinals
Russia – Slovenia 14:9
Slovakia – Turkey 13:10
Quarterfinals
Spain – Italy 5:6 (3:3 – PSO)
Montenegro – Croatia 10:9
Hungary – Serbia 12:11
Georgia – Greece 10:12
Day 6
For the 15th place
Netherlands – Belarus 15:5
For the 13th place
Romania – Bulgaria 18:8
For the 11th place
Slovenia – Turkey 11:5
For the 9th place
Russia – Slovakia 14:8
Day 7
Classification 5-8, semifinals
Serbia – Spain 12:5
Georgia – Croatia 11:10 (7:7 – PSO)
Semifinals
Hungary – Italy 8:6
Greece – Montenegro 8:13
Day 8
Final
Hungary – Montenegro 15:9 (5:0, 4:2, 2:4, 4:3)
Hungary: Gyapjas, Fekete, Nagy 6, Szepfalvi, Orszagh, Barics, Gaszt 1, Tamas 1, Kis 1, Tymcyna 2, Meszaros, Szalai 4, Csite. Head Coach. Balazs Vince.
Montenegro: Bjelica, Kankaras, Boskovic 2, Reichel 3, Vuksic, V. Vukicevic 2, Janovic, Vuckovic, Bastrica 2, L. Vukicevic, Jovanovic, Cvorovic. Head coach: Veljko Uskokovic.
For bronze
Italy -Greece 9:8
For the 5th place
Serbia – Georgia 12:3
For the 7th place
Spain – Croatia 9:7
Final rankings
1.Hungary
2.Montenegro
3.Italy
4.Greece
5.Serbia
6.Georgia
7.Spain
8.Croatia
9.Russia
10.Slovakia
11.Slovenia
12.Turkey
13.Romania
14.Bulgaria
15.Netherlands
16.Belarus
The first women’s European U15 Water Polo Championship was played in Kirishi (Russia) in the first half of July. Spain won the gold medal
Rankings: 1. Spain, 2. Russia, 3. Greece, 4. Netherlands, 5. Italy, 6. Croatia, 7. Hungary, 8. France, 9. Israel, 10. Slovakia, 11.Serbia, 12. Czech Republic, 13. Turkey.
