The fourth day of the World U16 Championships for boys in Volos was a fully packed with do-or-die matches. Today, the eighth-finals were on the program.
The winners of the eight duels advanced to the Platinium Round (1st – 8th place), while the losers will continue the tournament in the Gold Round (9th – 17th).
Only European teams will play in the Platinium Round.
The seven countries with the biggest water polo tradition – Greece, Serbia, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, and Montenegro – advanced to the quarterfinals. Besides them, Turkey found its place among the Top 8.
Encounters Brazil – Croatia and Italy – Germany were the highlights of the eighth finals. Both matches entered a thrilling finish. Still, everything ended as expected – Italy and Croatia won.
Day 4 – Eighth-finals: Montenegro – Japan 16:9, Slovenia – Spain 3:13, Brazil – Croatia 4:6, Italy – Germany 8:7, USA – Hungary 4:15, Malta – Turkey 8:13, Egypt – Serbia 5:10, Australia – Greece 8:15.
Platinium Round (1st – 8th place), quarterfinals (August 25): Montenegro – Spain (16:45), Croatia – Greece (18:00), Italy – Hungary (19:15), Turkey – Serbia (20:30)
Gold Round (9th – 16th place), quarterfinals (August 25): Japan – Slovenija (9:00), Brazil – Australia (10:15), Germany – USA (11:30), Malta – Egypt (12:45)
Silver Round (17th – 25th place) – at the end of the article.
2022 Men’s U16 World Championships, Day 4
Eighth-finals
Montenegro – Japan 16:9 (4:3, 4:1, 5:2, 3:3)
Montenegro: Bacovic, Matijasevic 1, Moracanin 2, Petrovic 2, Milinic, Roganovic 3, Stupar 1, Janovic 3, Vicevic, Samardzic 1, Gojkovic 3, Vukanic , Vukasinovic. Head coach: Mirovic.
Japan: Ogami, Yoneda 1, Kozaka, Inoue 3, Okamoto, Shoyama, Goto 1, Morikawa 1, Miyama 3, Minagawa 1, Yamanaka.
Japan, with only 11 players on the roster, kept up with the Montenegrins in the first period. But, the Europeans dominated the middle two periods, and entered the final quarter with a comfortable 13:6 lead. They even had a 9-goal advantage (16:7), but Japan reduced the gap at the finish.
All photos by KOE
Slovenia – Spain 3:13 (0:2, 1:2, 1:4, 1:5)
Slovenia: Karnicar, Santak 1, Policnik, Povhe 2, Lukic, Basic, Poznik, Kirasic, Klobucar, Laketic, Cetkovic , Stromajer, Udovc. Head coach: Hajdin.
Spain: Diaz, S. Garcia 1, Nunez 2, Garrido 1, Feliu 1, Granados 2, Lema 1, Fernandez 1, Ferrando , Diaz 1, F. Garcia 1, Rodriguez 2,Vinuales.
The Spaniards opened the match with a 4:0 lead and as the game was approaching to an end, they were increasing the margin.
Brazil – Croatia 4:6 (2:1, 2:2, 0:1, 0:2)
Brazil: Dantas, Zibecchi, Martinelli, Siqueira, Marinho, Capozzielli, Carraresi, Ribeiro 1, Muniz 1, Martins , L. Wulfhorst 2, Leme, G.Wulfhorst. Head coach: Dezani.
Croatia: Prizmic, Dragosevic 2, Kovacevic , Curkovic, Burburan, Raci, Prezzi , Toncinic, Jerkovic 2, Galic, Djuho, Bucevic 2 , Batos. Head coach: Hrestak.
Croatia defeated Brazil in a very exciting low-scoring encounter and advanced to the quarterfinals. The South Americans showed a better spell in the first half and entered the third period with a 4:3 lead. The Croats’ defense didn’t let a single goal in the third and fourth periods, but everything was open until the dying minutes. Croatia leveled at 4:4 in the third quarter. The fourth period saw a defensive battle. However, Croatia scored two goals in the last 97 seconds and went to the Top 8.
Italy – Germany 8:7 (4:1, 2:3, 1:3, 1:0)
Italy: Poggi, Miraldi, Valle, Barigelli, Arco, Tresa, Pettonati 1, Gambaccian 2, De Vecchis 2, Demarchi 2, Salipante 1, Modica, Castrucci.
Germany:Roessel, Marcinczak, Taubert 1, Kugler, Hofmann 5, Mergenthaler, Janke, Zelmer, Klaffke, Kammermeier 1, Tick, Bruns, Heinrich.
After the first period, it seemed that Italy would record an easy win. The “Settebello” stretched the margin to five (6:1) midway through the second quarter and many believed of their fans beleived that the contest was over. But, the Germans rarely give up. They managed to come back, and, led by Arne Hofmann, level the score at 7:7 before the final quarter. There were no goals in the fourth period for long, and the match was close to a penalty shootout. However, Perronati scored a winner with 29 seconds to go and Italy celebrated the victory.
USA –Hungary 4:15 (1:5,0:3, 2:3, 1:4)
USA: Pavoggi, Brinkema, Appeldorn, Arlett 1, Banos 1, Blum, Bradley , Forer, Francisco, Ohl 1, Whitehead, Kim 1, Lacy.
Hungary: Kiss, Balogh 3, A. Toth 2, Doroszlai 1, Mero 1, M.Z. Toth 1, Tatrai 3, Regos 1, Nagy 2, Haverkampf 2, Simon 1, Lugosi 1, Borbely. Head coach: Bisztritsanyi.
Hungary proved that it had arrived in Volos very prepared and built a unattainable advantage already in the first half.
Malta – Turkey 8:13 (0:2, 1:3, 4:3, 3:5)
Malta: Galea, Dimech, Engerer, Bonavia, Cassar, Bugeja 1, Cutajar Licari 2, J. Cutajar 3, Schembri 1, C.M.Cutajar 1,Montebello Brownrigg, Mallia, Schembri. Head coach:Farrugia.
Turkey:Ozyorenti, Caliskan, Atam, Aral, Adiguzel, Erdag 4, Naipoglu 5, Ali Cinar 1, Ayaksiz 2, Karabulut 1, Alpman, Yener, Ozten. Head coach:Ozdurak.
Water polo players of Malta delighted their fans, winning first place in the group (ahead of the USA and Kazakhstan). Still, today, the Maltese had to congratulate the rival. The Turks opened the match with a 3:0 advantage and controlled the game until the end.
Egypt – Serbia 5:10 (1:2, 0:3, 0:3, 4:2)
Egypt: Elessawy, Rafeek 1, Ahmed, Anwar 3, Hegazy, Haytham, Tarek 1, Seody, Majed, Elhelaly, Khalaf, Hamdy, Osman.
Serbia: Dimkovic, Bodiroga, Novakovic, Krdzalin, Kojic, Lazic, Gladovic 2, Djokanovic 2, Stajic, Boskovic , Krstic 3, Dimic 1, Savic. Head coach: Korolija.
Serbia, playing excellently in defense, was the team that dictated the pace throughout the match. The Serbs had a 9:1 lead early in the fourth quarter and were 10:2 in the middle of the period. The Africans neeted three late goals and narrowed the gap.
Australia – Greece 8:15 (2:5, 1:2, 1:4,4:4)
Australia: Cole, Brown 1, Martin, Macic 1, Izzard, Lambert, Connors 1, Mordes 1, Saupin 1, Webber 1, Magasanik 1, Korac 2, Markart.
Greece: Mavriopoulos, Lykoudis 2, Kokkinos 2, Karatzas 2, Kapragkos 1, Laskaridis 2, Zervoudakis , Mitrakis 1, Zachopoulos 2, Siamas 2, Belesis 1, Chomatas , Kratimenos. Head coach: Lempesis.
After less than two minutes of play, Greece had a 2:0 lead. Australia leveled at 2:2 quickly. But, then, the hosts scored five goals in a row, jumped to a 7:2 and that series proved vital for their win.
SIlver Round (17th – 25th place)
Group I
Poland – Georgia 12:13 (4:3, 3:3, 1:2, 4:5)
Poland: Goik, Bankowski, Kedzior 1, Guzy, Bloch 3, Staniszewski 2, Grabinski 2, Broniecki, Pozycki, Pyrek 1, Ciula 1, Greif 2, Ksiazkiewicz. Headcoach: Bar.
Georgia: Kakhiani, Gujaraidze, Iobidze 1, Tsereteli 1, Veshaguri 2, Giorgobiani, Khubulashvili, Kurashvili 3, Khutsianidze 1, Chkheidze 1, Mchedlishvili 4, Todua, Matchavariani. Head coach: Kutivadze.
Azerbaijan – Switzerland 5:17 (0:2, 2:3, 2:6, 1:6)
Azerbaijan: Hassanzadeh Abbadi, Aliyev, Sadigov, Guliyev Mamaliyev 3, Huseynov, Dailyuk, Musayev 2, Aghababayev, Zhizhin, Baghirli, Ismaylov, Huseynov. Head coach:Lepeschenko.
Switzerland: Muszely, Bozzo 3, Luethi 3, Catillaz 1, Brambillasca 1, Geser, Flueckiger 2,Valsangiacomo 1, Rutz 2,Ravetta 3, Pizzoli 1, Xantippe.
Switzerland – Poland 8:14 (1:6, 1:3, 3:1, 3:4)
Switzerland: Muszely, Bozzo, Luethi 1, Catillaz 1, Brambillasca 1, Geser 1, Flueckiger 1,Valsangiacomo 1, Rutz,Ravetta 2 , Pizzoli, Xantippe.
Poland: Goik, Bankowski 1, Kedzior 1, Guzy 1, Bloch 2, Staniszewski 3, Grabinski 1, Broniecki, Pozycki 2, Pyrek, Ciula 1, Greif 2, Ksiazkiewicz. Head coach: Bar.
Latvia – Azerbaijan 10:9 (3:2, 2:3, 2:2, 3:2)
Latvia: Smorodovs, Kopitovs, Saveljevs, Levsuks Grinovs, Ivanovs, Pasko 6, Jegorovs 3, Suharevs, Adukonis, Mihnovics 1, Blusins.
Azerbaijan: Hassanzadeh Abbadi, Aliyev, Sadigov, Guliyev 1, Mamaliyev 2, Huseynov, Dailyuk, Musayev 3, Aghababayev, Zhizhin 2, Baghirli, Ismaylov, Huseynov. Head coach:Lepeschenko.
Standings: 1. Georgia 2 pts (1 game), 2. Poland 2 (2), 3. Latvia 2 (1), 4. Switzerland 2 (2), 5. Azerbaijan 0 (2)
Group J
South Africa – Portugal 11:4 (3:1, 0:1, 3:0, 5:2)
South Africa: Du Plessis, Marais 1, Melleng Williams 1, October 1, Pryce, Cicero 1, Smith, Malhrebe, Wilson 1, Ditz 2, Fall 3, Mamaregane 1, Srauss.
Portugal: Costa, M.Santos, G.Santos 2, Amorim, Viriato, Magalhaes, Jarreta 1, Ferras 1, Almeida, Sampaio, Morais, Branco, Palhares.
Ukraine – Kazakhstan 9:3 (2:0, 3:0, 3:1, 1:2)
Ukraine: Khytryi, Len, Artsyshevskyy 1, Karasov, Levin 1, Symyk, Yarmoluik 1 1, Nakonechnyi , Grybov, Chernykh 1, Rudnyk 1, Chyzhuk 4, Borboskyi.
Kazakhstan: Ozerov, Babenko 1, Gribov, Ossipov, Sarajov, Yurtayev, Karyukin 1, Sazonov, Fedorovich 1 , Ali, Bakmukhamedov, Aday.
Standings: 1. South Africa 2 (1), 2. Ukraine 2 (1), 3. Kazakhstan 0 (1), 4. Portugal 0 (1)
