Hungary, Greece, Spain and Croatia will play in the semifinals of the 2nd Men’s European U15 Championships in Loule (Portugal).
Three of the four teams won top spots in their groups (Hungary, Greece, Spain), while Croatia was 2nd in Group D and advanced to the semifinals after two matches of the knockout round (playoffs and quarterfinals) Results of the group stage – here
2021 Men’s European U15 Championships, Loule
Playoffs
Teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in their respective groups faced off in the playoffs (Round of 16). Turkey upset Montenegro, and recorded a 15:14 win in a penalty shootout. Serbia, Italy, and Croatia defeated their rivals with ease.
Montenegro – Turkey 14:15 (3:1, 3:2, 2:4, 2:3, PSO 4:5)
Italy – Poland 17:3 (4:1, 1:2, 5:0, 7:0)
Serbia – Portugal 33:2 (9:1, 8:1, 8:0, 8:0)
Croatia – Romania 16:5 (5:1, 3:2, 3:0, 5:2)
Quarterfinals
Almost each of the quarterfinal matches was very exciting.
Hungary ran over Turkey (20:5), but other games offered a lot of thrills.
Greece made a big comeback in the match with Italy. The Italians had a 6:5 advantage before the final quarter. But, the Greeks scored four unanswered goals in the fourth period and went to 9:6. Italy netted a consolation goal in the last minute.
Spain defeated Serbia. After the third period, the score was 7:7. The Spaniards earned a 9:7 advantage in the fourth quarter. Serbia’s eighth goal for the final score (8:9) came too late – 20 seconds before the final buzzer.
Croatia was better than Russia, which won 1st place in Group A. The first half was balanced (7:7). Croatia went into the final eight minutes with a slim 10:9 lead. The Croats extended the margin to three in the fourth quarter (12:9) and Russia wasn’t able to come back.
Croatia will play against Spain in the semifinals, while Greece and Hungary will meet in the second match of the Round of 4.
Turkey – Hungary 5:20 (4:5, 1:3, 0:7, 0:5)
Italy – Greece 7:9 (0:2, 3:1, 3:2, 1:4)
Serbia – Spain 8:9 (2:3, 2:1, 3:3, 1:2)
Croatia – Russia 12:10 (5:4, 2:3, 3:2, 2:1)
Semifinals (Saturday)
5th – 8th
Turkey – Italy
Serbia – Russia
1st – 4th
Hungary – Greece
Spain – Croatia
Classification 9th – 15th place
Semifinals 9th – 12th
Montenegro – Poland 26:9 (4:1, 6:4, 6:2, 10:2)
Portugal – Romania 2:23 (0:6, 1:6, 1:4, 0:7)
Semifinals 13th – 16th
Malta – Georgia 21:8 (4:3, 4:1, 6:1, 7:3)
For 13th place: France – Malta
For 11th place: Poland – Portugal
For 9th place: Montenegro – Romania
