Montenegro, Greece, Serbia, and Italy will compete in the semifinals of the European U18 Championships in Oradea.
The surprise of the day was Serbia’s victory over Hungary – 14:13. Both teams entered the championships as medal contenders, but Serbia struggled in Group B, suffering three losses, while Hungary performed strongly and finished at the top of Group A. However, Serbia clearly saved its best for the crucial moments of the tournament and beat Hungary in a thriller.
Greece also had a rocky start to the championships, similar to Serbia, but managed to recover and edged out Croatia in the quarterfinals, 17:16.
The remaining two quarterfinals weren’t as exciting as the games in which Serbia and Greece emerged victorious.
Montenegro is the only team reaching the semifinals with an unbeaten record. After finishing first in Group B of Sub-division 1, the Montenegrins ran over France today, 21:11.
Italy, like Montenegro, advanced to the quarterfinals without having to play in the crossover round, as it finished second in Group A. Today, Italy beat Spain in the quarterfinals quite convincingly – 11:6.
Tomorrow, in the semifinals, Italy will play against Montenegro (18:00 CET), and Serbia and Greece will face off (19:30 CET).
2025 European U18 Championships, Elite Division, Oradea, Day 5
QF Quarterfinals
Montenegro – France 21:11 (3:1, 8:4, 7:1, 3:5)
Croatia – Greece 16:17 (4:4, 5:5, 4:4, 3:4)
Hungary – Serbia 13:14 (3:3, 4:4, 2:3, 4:4)
Italy – Spain 11:6 (3:1, 2:2, 3:2, 3:1)
France, which already achieved success by advancing to the quarterfinals, scored an opening goal in the game against Montenegro. However, the favorite responded with a 5:0 run. Early in the second period, Montenegro led 5:1. France reduced the gap to two thrice (3:5, 4:6, 5:7), just to see Montenegro produce a 6:0 series to jump to 13:5 (16th minute). Before the end of the third period, Montenegro increased the margin to 12 (18:6). It slowed the pace in the fourth period to save energy for the semifinals.
Photo: European Aquatics
The top scorers were Montenegro’s Gojkovic and France’s Novacek with five goals each.
The real show started with an action-packed game Croatia – Greece. There were plenty of twists and turns, but neither of the teams earned a 2-goal advantage throughout the match, and the rivals were tied at every one of the three breaks between the quarters.
At halftime, the score was 9:9. Croatia took a one-goal lead four times in the third period, but Greece leveled on each occasion’s, so at the last break it stood 13:13. The game followed the same pattern in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Croatia led 14:13 and 15:14. The Greeks leveled both times, and shortly after their 15th goal, they added another. Ilias Angelopoulos put Greece in front 16:15. Croatia’s left-handed goal-getter Ante Jerkovic scored his seventh goal to level the score at 16:16 with 02:35 minutes remaining on the clock. A minute later, Dimitrios Sarros responded from a distance to make it 17:16. In the following attack, Croatia wasted another man-up. Still, the Croats had the last possession and a chance to equalize. Centre-forward Katunaric attempted to score a few seconds from the end, but Greece’s goalkeeper Beredes posted the save to seal his team’s victory.
Greece Photo: European Aquatics
The mentioned Ante Jerkovic was the best scorer of the match with seven goals, Tonicic added three. Chatzis contributed four and Angelopoulos three goals for Greece.
During the group stage, Serbia’s performances were going from bad to worse. After three losses in the group, the Serbs beat Malta in the crossover round. Today, they excelled when it mattered the most and beat Hungary, which entered the match as a favorite since it had a perfect 3 – 0 record in Group A.
Each side scored three goals apiece in the first quarter. In the opening minute of the second period, Hungary quickly gained a 5:3 advantage by scoring two goals. The Serbs then fought back, equalizing at 5:5 and later at 6:6, but Hungary responded immediately each time to regain the lead. The end of the second quarter mirrored the first, with Lazic leveling the score at 7:7 with a man-up goal two seconds before halftime.
Early in the second half, Vojinovic gave Serbia an 8:7 lead. Hungary kept pace, tying the score at 8:8 and 9:9, but Serbia had the final word in the third quarter as Neskovic converted a man-up just five seconds before the break to make it 10:9. The ball barely passed over a goal line after Hungary’s goalkeeper Damosy touched it. Interestingly, Serbia scored a power-play goal in the dying seconds of every one of the first three quarters.
Strahinja Neskovic Photo: European Aquatics
Luigi Canepa opened the fourth period with a stunning goal, extending Serbia’s lead to 11:9 for the first time. Mor Benedek, who scored all four of Hungary’s goals in the fourth quarter, leveled at 12:12 in the 30th minute with an extra player. However, Serbia responded magnificently, with two quick goals from Neskovic and Lazic within just 37 seconds, taking a 14:12 lead. Benedek scored once more with 62 seconds left, but in a tense final minute, both defenses held firm, and Serbia secured its place in the semifinals.
Luka Vojinovic was Serbia’s top scorer with four goals, while Novak Lazic added three. Despite Mor Benedek’s outstanding performance with seven goals, it wasn’t enough to propel Hungary into the Top 4.
The first half of the last quarterfinal match, Italy – Spain, was a low-scoring affair, but Italy was always in front. The Italians needed two minutes to build a 2:0 lead. Spain got on the scoreboard in the 5th minute, but Italy regained a 2-goal advantage just two seconds before the first break from a penalty shot. Spain halved the deficit to one goal twice in the second quarter (2:3 and 3:4). But, Italy consolidated its defense, and scored four unanswered goals between the 15th and 20th minute, earning an 8:3 lead.
That 4:0 run from Italy was a turning point. However, the contest wasn’t over yet. Spain produced a 3:0 run and came very close to the rival , 6:8, in the 26th minute. But, the Italians’ defense was perfect in the last six minutes, while they scored three more goals for a comfortable 5-goal victory.
The defense was a key to Italy’s 11:6 win, and regarding the attack, it was led by Alessandrini, who netted three goals. None of the Spaniards scored more than a goal.
CL Classification matches, 9th – 16th place
9th – 12th place classification, semifinals
Netherlands – Germany 8:13 (1:1, 3:4, 2:3, 2:5)
Poland – Malta 14:15 (3:3, 2:1, 2:3, 2:2, PSO 5:6)
13th-place match
Turkiye – Romania 9:8 (1:0, 2:4, 5:2, 1:2)
15th-place match
Georgia – Ukraine 17:14 (4:1, 4:4, 3:4, 6:5)
August 23 schedule (all times are CET)
Semifinals: Montenegro – Italy (18:00), Greece – Serbia (19:30)
5th-8th place semifinals: France – Spain (15:00), Croatia – Hungary (16:30)
9th-place match: Germany – Malta (09:30)
11th-place match: Netherlands – Poland (08:00)
2025 European U18 Championships, Division 1, Rio Maior, Day 5
Quarterfinals:Moldova – Belgium 8:9, Bulgaria – Lithuania 21:9, Israel – Slovakia 15:3, Portugal – Switzerland 9:8
Classification matches: Denmark – Austria 9:12, Czech Republic – Great Britain 9:12
August 23
Semifinals:Belgium – Bulgaria, Israel – Portugal
5th – 8th place semifinals: Moldova – Lithuania, Slovakia – Switzerland
9th-place match: Austria – Great Britain
11th-place match: Denmark – Czech Republic
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