Hungary-Spain, Italy-Montenegro U16 semifinal line-ups

In day-five action, all the talk was about the final match-up between Montenegro and Greece. Greece was second last time and Montenegro fourth. It will be different this year as Montenegro lost the third period 4-1 and won the last 5-0 to finish 11-11 and win the shootout 4-3 — a huge reversal.

With champion Hungary, Spain and Italy putting in good margins for their quarterfinal victories, it bodes well for the semifinals on Sunday. Hungary will play Spain and Montenegro takes on Italy in what will be a fantastic precursor to Monday’s finals.

The lower matches produced some fine encounters with Egypt needing a shootout against Romania to win 13-11 and Singapore doing the same against China, 20-19.

DIVISION 1 QUARTERFINALS (1-8)

SERBIA 7 HUNGARY 12 (4-3, 1-2, 1-4, 1-3)

Hungarian sensation Benedek Rabb had a dream day at the office with an amazing nine goals as Hungary came from behind to swim away with the match against Serbia and keep its title defence chances intact. By this stage of the tournament, the top division is playing eight-minute quarters, allowing more chances. Serbia was 2-1 up and Hungary rebounded to lead 3-2 before Serbia went to the first break with a 4-3 advantage. Rabb had a penalty and an extra-man conversion from deep left to his credit. Rabb drilled from the top for 4-4 in the second period, while Uros Rahpeyma regained the lead for Serbia. No worries, Rabb levelled from the left for 5-5. He backhand steered in the 6-5 advantage from the left-post position on action; converted another penalty and  nabbed two more extra-man goals to lift the margin to 9-5. At 6-5, Serbian Luka Drobnjakovic was red-carded with substitution. Vuk Vasiljevic converted extra-man and Hungary went to the fourth period 9-6 ahead. Viktor Vasic brought it to 9-7 behind on extra with Botond Gedra, a first-quarter scorer, nailing the 10-7 shot. Two minutes later, Csaba Jambor made it 11-7 with a missile from the top and just inside the three-minute mark, Rabb scored his ninth from his favourite position for 12-7. Seven of his goals came from the deep right-hand-catch position. Extra man played a huge part in the match with Hungary converting five from 15 and defending nine of 14. In all, Hungary threw in 41 shots (Rabb 15) to Serbia’s 28. Rabb now has 21 goals for the week.

SPAIN 14 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9 (5-2, 3-3, 2-2, 4-2)
USA opened but it did not take long for Spain to settle the ship, level and grasp the first quarter 5-2. Spain had control although USA was well set up on each attack and narrowed the margin to one (6-5) off the near-post man on extra midway through the second quarter. In the final minute, Spain sent in two, one on extra-man attack for a three-goal margin at halftime. This lifted to 10-6 with two minutes left and then Kai Kaneko converted a penalty for USA for 10-7. Spain scored the next three with two from Mauro Millan for his third of the match. It moved to 14-8 and eight seconds from time Sungwon Shin scored USA’s ninth goal on extra. Spain was through to the semifinals. Millan and Kaneko were the top scorers with three each. Spain could only manage three from 11 on extra and USA six from 13. On shooting, Spain sent in 30 shots to 23.

ITALY 12 CROATIA 9 (3-2, 4-3, 4-2, 1-2)

This was a clash between fifth and seventh from 2022 and Italy made sure it would progress higher with three very strong quarters to make Croatia scramble in the last. Francesco Corelli scored the opening two goals with Pasquale Porzio claiming the third for 3-1 at 3:24. Nardo Skejic dragged one back 20 seconds from time from the penalty line. Nardo Dragas, so often on the scoresheet, sent in a second penalty goal for 3-3 at the start of the second period. However, three unanswered Italian goals — a second for Porzio —  had the team well placed at 6-3. This became 7-4 and -5 by halftime. Italy shot to 10-6 at 4:21 and 11-7 at 2:54 with no further scoring action by the final break. Porzio made it 12-7 and Dragas 12-8, both on extra by 6:41. Both teams shut the gates and it was not until  just inside the final minute that Dragas scored his fourth on extra for 12-9. Porzio (ITA) and Dragas (CRO) finished with four each and Corelli (ITA) with three. Italy went four from seven on extra-man attack and defended seven from 12. On penalty goals, Italy made two from three and Croatia two from two.

MONTENEGRO 15 GREECE 14 in penalty shootout. FT: 11-11. Pens: 4-3. (2-4, 3-3, 1-4, 5-0, Pens 4-3)

The team with the better extra-man statistics and penalty goals normally wins matches. Not so here as Montenegro, with a shocking extra-man count, blew Greece out of the water in the final quarter and then did the ultimate damage in a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals. It was the clash of the silver medallist in 2022, Greece, against the fourth-ranked Montenegro. After holding sway for three-quarters of the match, one wonders what happened in the final quarter after Greece was 11-7 ahead. Here’s what happened. Pavle Dabic scored from centre forward at 5:53. Greece took a timeout to no avail and then had two players ejected, Andrej Durutovic caning the second one for 11-8. Six shots were saved or blocked and the seventh went in thanks to Danilo Roganovic for 11-9. Greece missed an extra-man opportunity and Roganovic scored from the field for 11-0. A Greek was excluded, Montenegro went to a timeout and the ensuing plan yielded a goal to Luka Todorovic for 11-11 at 0:41. This forced the shootout. Greece had its second shot saved and the fifth missed while Montenegro was perfect, gaining victory.

DIVISION 2 QUARTERFINALS (9-16)

NETHERLANDS 6 BULGARIA 4 (0-0, 2-2, 1-1, 3-1)

Both teams put their second-round losses behind them and went toe to toe in such a low-scoring match. For no goal to be scored for six and a half minutes — into the second quarter — is a first for this tournament. The next came three minutes later and a Kimi Christ goal from centre forward had the match at 2-2 by the long break. The goals were five minutes apart in the third. Christ gave the Dutch the lead with a long shot to start the fourth and again on extra before Yeun Blankhorst elevated Netherlands to 6-3 by 2:11. Georgi Venov responded with his third goal and a buzzer-beating shot from six metres failed to give him four. There was just the one extra-man goal, Netherlands gaining one from five while Bulgaria had no opportunities. Bulgaria converted its penalty chance and the Dutch did not.

GERMANY 10 BRAZIL 4 (2-1, 3-1, 2-2, 3-0)

Germany picked up a third win, boosting itself to the top 12 and within a whisker of ninth position. Brazil scored the opening goal with Germany needing an extra-man play to seal the 2-1 advantage, seven seconds from the first break. This became 5-1 and 5-2 at halftime. It went to 7-3 and 7-4 by the final break. At 2:16 in the fourth period, Germany closed all scoring with a 10-4 advantage. Germany had the advantage of 23 shots to 16, went three from four on extra compared to Brazil’s two from five and both teams missed one of their two penalty attempts. Erik Hennig topped the scoring with three with Marian Kob and Elias Gothke grabbing two apiece. Joao Pettena sent in two for Brazil.

ROMANIA 11 EGYPT 13 in penalty shootout. FT: 10-10. Pens 1-3. (3-2, 1-2, 3-4, 3-2, Pens 1-3)

Egypt claimed its second penalty-shootout win of the week after day one’s 17-15 success over Slovenia. Today it came through with another. Romania had the better of the first quarter but struggled in the second to send the match to the third on even terms. Egypt went ahead twice in the first quarter with Romania taking the lead through a Denis Feke strike on extra inside the final minute. It took some time for Egypt to level through Yassin Mohamed Wael Elnemr on extra and then Ahmed Amr Abdelfatth converted a penalty to grab the lead 4-3. David Boros scored from two metres soon after to level the match, which was the halftime score. Egypt went ahead again and Romania responded. It was Egypt’s turn to lead with Egypt equalising through Hassan Ahmed Essameldin. Mohamed Wael Elnemr took Egypt ahead on extra with Ahmed Essameldin making it 8-6 at 1:33 from the penalty line. Romania sent in a penalty shot for 8-7 down inside the final minute. In the fourth period, the action really heated up with Egypt going to 10-7. Then two Alexander Paladiciuc-Rusu action shots brought the score to 10-9 behind. The left-armer then scored from the left-hand catch position again at 1:05 for 10-10. One Egyptian shot was tipped aside and the match went to penalties. Romania had a horror time, missing three in a row with two saved and one spearing over the top, while Egypt made three of its four to win the shootout 3-1 and the match 13-11. Mohamed Wael Elnemr scored four goals and Ahmed Essameldin three for Egypt while Paladiciuc-Rusu netted three and Feke two for Romania. On extra, Egypt went four from five and Romania two from three. Egypt scored two from four on penalty and Romania one from one.

AUSTRALIA 12 GEORGIA 3 (4-0, 2-0, 2-1, 4-2)

Australia made it three wins in Gzira with a comprehensive victory over Georgia. The first-half scores show that. It was not until well into the third period that Georgia slipped in a shot from the right after a fumbling pass, that it became more aggressive. In the fourth it scored from the same position and from a counter-attack. The Aussies were potent all around the field and the fact that seven players scored was testament to that, whether from two metres or the top, where it was particularly deadly. Australia’s positioning and accurate passes made for more piercing opportunities. Georgia had two more shots, but they were largely swatted away. The pathway to 4-0 was made even easier as Georgian Saba Azarashvili was dumped for a violence foul at 4:10 in the first quarter, gifting Australia a penalty and four minutes of extra man, which it enveloped and went 4-0 ahead. Australia managed four from seven on extra-man attack and defended all three of Georgia’s chances. Australia, though, only managed to convert one of three penalty attempts. For Australia, Jett Semmens, Lachlan Davies, Taj Young, Oliver Moncur and Savo Tadic scored twice each. Georgian captain Merabi Matchavariani also scored twice.

DIVISION 3 QUARTERFINALS (17-24)

CHINA 19 SINGAPORE 20 in sudden-death penalty shootout. FT: 14-14. Pens: 5-6. (2-4, 3-3, 6-4, 3-3, pens 5-6)

This was a thriller at the other end of the competition, showing just how tough these groups can be. Singapore opened the scoring, was level at one and then held the upper hand until 3:28 in the third quarter when Chinese star Yiheng Yang scored his second goal. Singapore went out to 11-9 and China made it 11-11 on the final buzzer. Singapore went to 14-11 at 3:33, seemingly on target for victory. Yang threw three more goals to level at 14 with 22 seconds remaining, forcing the shootout. The rotation went to plan and Yang had his second shot saved, leaving Matthias Goh to convert for Singapore and win the match in sudden death — a fitting result as it was never headed. Both teams were perfect on extra with China scoring four and Singapore a fantastic seven. China converted two of three penalty goals and Singapore one. Jaycus See continued his fine run in Gzira with five goals — 17 in total —with Eamon New netting four and Justin Saik three for the victor. Yang finished with five — a tournament-high 23 — and Chengyi Qiu snared four.

POLAND 6 ISRAEL 13 (0-3, 2-3, 3-6, 1-1)

Israel started strongly and maintained the pressure throughout, especially in the critical third period. Poland would be happy with the final quarter, although would have preferred to have done better than six goals from 23 attempts. Israel made 13 from 26 for an impressive 50 per cent. Itay Goshen and Ron Gilead scored three each for Israel while Jan Zabski and Kajetan Grabinski netted twice for Poland. Poland was impressive on extra-man attack with five from nine while defending four from seven. Poland slotted one penalty goal and Israel two.

UKRAINE 11 TURKIYE 15 (2-3, 3-4, 3-3, 3-5)

Turkiye came through with a third victory, going 2-0 up, levelling at two, taking a 3-2 margin into the second quarter. From 4-2, it became 4-4, 5-5 and 7-5 by halftime. Three times Ukraine brought it back to one, only for Turkiye to go into the final period 10-8 ahead. Three times Ukraine brought it to within two, but two goals in the final quarter blew out the difference. Batur Yildis netted four — 20 in Gzira — and Demir Gulsoy three for Turkiye. Maksym Hurzan scored three and Yurii Horodnyi three for Ukraine. Turkiye went four from seven on extra and defended two from three. Ukraine’s score was boosted by three penalty goals to Turkiye’s one from two.

SOUTH AFRICA 9 MALTA 16 (4-4, 1-4, 3-3, 1-5)

Malta scored its third victory and jumps up the rankings, making the difference in the second quarter. South Africa was always willing to fight and put in plenty of effort. South Africa went three from five on extra and defended two from three, converted both penalty attempts and saved two of Malta’s four attempts. However, on total shooting, Malta had the upper hand with 37 shots to 23. To South Africa’s credit, it stopped 21 incomings. It was to be Malta’s match in front of a strong home crowd, setting itself up for a grand finish to the tournament. Sam Engerer scored five and took his tally to 20. Sean Mifsud and Shailon Cutajar chimed in with four and three respectively. Matthew Fenn again topped the South African scoring with four goals — 17 in Gzira — with Alex Barrett and Timothy Young netting two.

DIVISION 4 QUARTERFINALS (25-32)

NEW ZEALAND 16 ZIMBABWE 5 (4-0, 5-5, 3-0, 4-0)

New Zealand bounced back from its four-goal loss to China by defeating winless Zimbabwe by a healthy margin. Blocking out Zimbabwe for the first quarter is always a winning strategy, although allowing Zimbabwe to score all its goals in the second quarter was not. Once that discretion was set aside, the Kiwis shut the doors in the second half. Lachie Schnauer led his eight scoring team-mates with three goals while Patrick Duff made two for Zimbabwe. There were few extra-man chances with the Kiwis missing their one chance and Zimbabwe making good with one from three. New Zealand sent in three penalty goals to one and had the better of the possession, taking 29 shots to 15.

CZECHIA 4 PERU 8 (0-3, 1-2, 2-2, 1-1)

Wow, did Peru rebound from Friday’s 15-0 loss to Israel, or what! Those thoughts went out the door as Peru went 3-0 up on Czechia by the quarter-time buzzer. Brilliant stuff and pretty to watch. The rest of the match was a fairly even affair and Peru can be happy about moving off the bottom tier and see what it can do in the last two days. Czechia was a 14-2 winner over Zimbabwe, so is quite capable of gaining another win or two in Gzira. Iker Vasquez, who tried desperately to score a goal on Friday with five attempts, slotted four goals today. Radim Vildomec sent in two Czechia goals. On extra, Czechia converted three from six and defended two from three. However, it ceded three penalty goals to Peru.

KAZAKHSTAN 16 SLOVENIA 7 (4-1, 2-1, 4-2, 6-3)

Kazakhstan won its first match and Slovenia, after two penalty-shootout defeats, has still to gain its first. It was the same today with Kazakhstan beginning well and winning every quarter, something very few teams have done this week. Kazakhstan scored the go-ahead goals in the first period with Slovenia scoring first in the second only for Kazakhstan to apply the pressure and head to halftime 6-2 ahead. A potent third period lifted the score to 10-4 and onwards to the final margin. Ramazan Abilkassym netted five goals and Abdurashid Namazov fired in three for Kazakhstan. Three players made two goals for Slovenia — Marcel Lipnik, Luka Vujanovic and Bine Stromajer. The big statistic was the 34 shots to 16 that stymied the Slovenians. Kazakhstan nailed four from six on extra-man attack while Slovenia had not one chance.

CANADA 25 MEXICO 9 (6-2, 5-2, 7-0, 7-5)

Canada came up with its first win in Gzira with a 25-9 hammering of Mexico, who remain winless. It was one of the most breathtaking matches with records aplenty. There was a staggering 60 shots taken with Canada sending in 35 and Mexico 25. Canada converted three from four penalty attempts and Mexico succeeded with its one, missing the initial shot and scoring the rebound. Then there was the 7-0 third period followed by the highest-scoring quarter of the tournament — 7-5 — to close the match. The match secretaries must have been worn out as were the referees. At 18-4 by the final quarter, all seemed over with Mexico expected to capitulate in the last. Not so, as the fiery team kept in the action. It was really a case of a lot of accurate, uninhibited shooting. Mexico had excellent set-up on extra-man attack and both teams looked equal in shooting ability. Darian Wang netted six goals and Ivan Khramtsov and Oleksandr Guriev four each for Canada. Julio Dominguez fired in five for Mexico. Surprisingly, there were just five counter-attack goals, four going to Canada. Goalkeeper saves were 10-2 in favour of Canada.

Day 6 Schedule

Tal-Qroqq Sport Complex:
DIVISION 2 SEMIFINALS (9-16)

Classification 13-16
09:00, Bulgaria v Brazil
10:15, Romania v Georgia
Classification 9-12
11:30, Netherlands v Germany
12:45, Egypt v Australia

DIVISION 1 SEMIFINALS (1-8)

Classification 5-8
15:00, Serbia v United States of America
16:30, Croatia v Greece
Classification 1-4
18:00, Hungary v Spain
19:30, Italy v Montenegro

Cottonera Indoor Pool
DIVISION 4 SEMIFINALS (25-32)

Classification 29-32
09:00, Zimbabwe v Czechia
10:15, Slovenia v Mexico
Classification 25-28
11:30, New Zealand v Peru
12:45, Kazakhstan v Canada

DIVISION 3 SEMIFINALS (17-24)
Classification 21-24
15:15, China v Poland
16:30, Ukraine v South Africa
Classification 17-20
17:45, Singapore v Israel
19:00, Turkiye v Malta