The final day anointed Spain as the successor to Hungary for the crown, smashing most of the teams en route, including Italy with a spectacular 18-6 margin. Spain produced some brilliant statistics with 10 extra-man goals and 112 goals in seven matches. Hungary claimed the bronze medal with a 12-10 win over Montenegro and United States of America needed a sudden-death penalty shootout to beat Greece 17-16 after the match was tied at 11-11 for fifth position. Croatia overcame Serbia 11-10 for seventh spot.
AWARDS
Coach of the Tournament
Alex Oses (ESP)
Most Valuable Player:
Benedek Rabb (HUN)
Best Goalkeeper:
Bruno Delmas (ESP)
Highest Goal Scorer:
Yiheng Yang (CHN) — 34
TWPC Secretary Stavroula Kozompoli, Rabb, Selmas, Yang and Oses.
MEDIA ALL STAR TEAM
Goalkeeper:
Bruno Delmas (ESP)
Field Players:
Marc Comabella (ESP)
Nardo Dragas (CRO)
Kai Kaneko (USA)
Francesco Maffei (ITA)
Benedek Rabb (HUN)
Yiheng Yang (CHN)
CLASSIFICATION FINALS
CLASSIFICATION 1-2 — GOLD MEDAL
SPAIN 18 ITALY 6 (4-0, 4-3, 6-1, 4-2)
The Spanish men are European champions. Perhaps that’s what spurred on this team of talented youngsters to dominate their opponents completely. From beating Czechia 13-3 on day one to trouncing champion Hungary 14-6 in the semifinals on day six, Spain was always the team to beat. It’s goal differential in Gzira was 112-43 with its scariest match against Germany (11-9). From the first score on extra-man attack by Oriol Hurtado to the buzzer-beater outside shot from Mauro Millan for a 4-0 opening quarter, Spain was alive and up to the task. However, it took eight shots to get those four. It was 3:17 in the second period that Italy made the board on extra through Pedro Puleo at the top-right position after a timeout. This, after a missed penalty attempt that was tipped over the back line. Spain gained two penalty fouls, one after the other, as the first was saved and the second slotted by Hurtado for 7-1. It became 7-3 as regular strikers Francesco Maffei (extra) and Pasquale Porzio (penalty) came to the fore. When Enzo Fernandez scored for 8-3, Italian goalkeeper Federico Giovanini came out and allegedly kicked the shooter, so was red-carded, bringing Giulio Bianchi into the match.
The third quarter showed just how good the team was by scoring five of its six goals on extra and allowing Italy in the door via a Francesco Corelli score from deep left for 9-4 at 6:47. The extra-man passing was not fast, but well-thought out. By the final break, Spain 14-4 up. It took Hurtado nearly three minutes for the next Spanish score, from the top on extra. Carrio converted extra and Italy popped its head up with an action goal to Leonardo Madaschi for 16-5 at 2:28. Italy missed a penalty attempt and Marc Comabella scored on extra at 1:11 for 17-5. Carrio plugged one in from centre forward and Spain had 18. It was Maffei with a centre-forward goal, who sealed the scoring, 17 seconds from time. Spain was the champion.
Hurtado scored five and Comabella (21 goals) and Carrio (13) four each in the whipping. Maffei was the only double scorer for Italy. The statistics show that Spain went 11 from 11 on extra, but it was 10/11 with a miss in the second quarter. It defended an incredible eight from 10. Italy could only get one penalty from four over the line and Spain one from two. For Italy, Maffei and Porzio were the leading scorers with 14 each closely followed by Antonio Chianese and Francesco Corelli with 13 apiece, These two teams met in 2022 with Italy downing Spain for fifth position.
CLASSIFICATION 3-4 — BRONZE MEDAL
HUNGARY 12 MONTENEGRO 10 (2-2, 4-3, 3-3, 3-2)
Hungary goes home with a medal, but not the gold won in 2022. It was a solid match with both teams ready to pounce on any indiscretion. Montenegro opened and Hungary was quickly 2-1 up with Montenegro equalising through Luka Todorovic at 3:27, the last of the scoring before the first break. Two minutes into the second quarter, Stefan Vranes had Montenegro 3-2 up and after the tournament’s most valuable player, Benedek Rabb, equalised at three, goals were traded with Rabb again in the mix. Goals were traded again and Rabb was Hungary’s hero again, now with four goals. Matyas Kovacs scored at 0:36 to give Hungary a slender 6-5 advantage by halftime. Two minutes into the third period, Andrej Durutovic levelled from outside. Rabb scored on extra and action for 8-6, forcing Montenegro to a timeout. Nothing came from it, except Rabb poked in another for 9-6.
Danilo Roganovic and Pavle Dabic replied for 9-8 and Rabb had two shots blocked before the final break. Goals were traded at the top of the fourth quarter before Zeteny Hidasi gave Hungary a two-goal edge. Vranes converted extra and Rabb did the same, for his eighth goal and 12-10 at 3:40. Both teams had three shots blocked and a timeout ploy by Montenegro gave Marko Milinic the final shot, hitting the post with a second remaining.
Hungary went four from 10 on extra-man attack and stopped six from nine. Hungary scored the only penalty goal and had the benefit of nine more shots — 39-30. Rabb‘s eight gave him 32 for the tournament, just two behind China’s Yiheng Yang. Vranes scored three for 14 all week and Todorovic (9), Roganovic (20) and Durutovic (10) netted twice each. Montenegro’s hero was goalkeeper Marko Pejovic was a tournament-high 16 saves.
CLASSIFICATION 5-6
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 17 GREECE 16 in sudden-death penalty shootout. FT 11-11. Pens: 6-5 (3-3, 4-4, 3-3, 1-1. Pens: 6-5)
United States of America came through when needed in a topsy-turvy match where Greece held sway more often than not, the lead changing so much. In fact, Greece, led 3-1 and had to regain the lead six times before it became 11-11 at 2:47 in the last period. The match was tied at one, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10-10 (nine seconds from the final break) and 11. USA went to a timeout twice and had three shots blocks and the final shot, by Kai Kaneko, hit the post in the last second, meaning a penalty shootout. Both teams missed their fifth shots, so it went to sudden death with USA scoring, Greece hitting the post and USA making sure of the last shot for victory. Centre forward Kelly Axline came up with four goals with Luca Ruano getting three and Kaneko two (team best 21). For Greece, Ilias Angelopoulos had a blinder with six goals and captain Kosmas Patsilinakos with two. USA was better with action goals, scoring two from two on extra to Greece’s two from three. Greece nailed three from four on penalty. USA also had more shots at 32 to 24. Greece played without regular captain Dimitrios Chatzis for the fourth time in the tournament, a sad loss as he scored nine goals. However, Dimitrios Sarros and Angelopoulos led the way with 18 goals apiece.
CLASSIFICATION 7-8
SERBIA 10 CROATIA 11 (4-3, 2-1, 2-2, 2-5)
Croatia came from behind to win the final period 5-2 and claim the match by one goal, maintaining its seventh position from 2022. Serbia had the control and slipped up at the crucial moment, finishing eighth, a far cry from the bronze medal of two years ago. The 3-0 opening by Serbia had Croatia flustered, but with Nardo Dragas having a superb tournament, he stirred his team to 3-3, getting the equaliser. However, Serbia went to 4-3 at the break and on to 5-3. It was 6-4 at 5:21 with no more goals in the half. More than eight minutes passed before Petar Erenda scored for Croatia and Mihail Mladeneo converted a penalty for 6-6. Andrei Micic and Strahinja Neskovic gave Serbia the three-quarter 8-6 advantage. Mladeneo (centre forward) and Dragas (penalty) had the match at 8-8. Goals were traded and, at 3:25, Erenda gave Croatia its first taste of the lead. Croatia had two extra-man chances and Toni Galusic converted the second for 11-9 at 1:57. Serbia went to a timeout and the second backfired when Luka Urosevic was excluded for violence at 0:36; Dragas had the penalty attempt saved and Neskovic converted an extra-man attack — even though it only had six in the pool — when Dragas was excluded. At 0:15, there was no chance for Serbia to force the shootout. Serbia was the better on extra-man attack with six from 12 and defending six from nine. Croatia scored two from three at the penalty line and the overall shot count favoured Croatia 30 to 23. Erenda scored three for Croatia with Mladineo and Dragas getting two each. For Dragas, it took his tally to 29. Misic finished with four goals and Neskovic three for Serbia. Five Serbs made double figures for the week with Neskovic and Vasiljevic on 13 and Micic on 12.
CLASSIFICATION 9-10
NETHERLANDS 12 AUSTRALIA 8 (4-1, 1-1, 3-1, 4-5)
Netherlands had the better of Australia throughout and finished in style. That opening quarter was sublime and although Australia tried everything, the Dutch deserved to be inside the top 10. They always kept Australia at arm’s length. On extra, Netherlands converted three from four and defended three from six. It scored both penalty attempts to the Aussies’ one from two and had 23 shots to 19. Luuk Silvis (13 in total) and Kimi Christ (14) scored three apiece. Jett Semmens, Lachlan Davies and Callum Pugh netted twice each. For the tournament, Davies topped the scoring with 12 with two on 11 (Semmens and Pugh) and two on 10 (Savo Tadic and Taj Young).
CLASSIFICATION 11-12
GERMANY 12 EGYPT 13 in sudden-death penalty shootout. FT: 8-8. Pens 4-5. (2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-2. Pens: 4-5)
Egypt missed its first two penalty shots in a shootout and went on to win in sudden death against Germany. Germany had the advantage by halftime and Egypt crept back to level by the end of the third period. Egypt went ahead first and then Germany scored twice for the lead by 3:39. Ahmed Amr Abdelfatth scored from centre forward at 0:57 and two timeouts could not gain any break in the score, sending the match to the shootout. It was even after the rotation — 11-11. Goals were traded and Navin Satter had his attempt saved, leaving Hassan Ahmed Essameldin, one of Egypt’s stars all week, to win the match and end the tournament on a high note. Ahmed Amr Abdelfatth topped the Egyptian scoring with four goals, the same number as German captain Marian Kob — 16 in total. Germany went five from six on extra and defended five from nine. No penalty goals came with Germany missing one. Egypt won despite shooting only 19 times to 26. In overall shooting, Egypt’s Yassin Mohamed Wael Elnemr scored once today to lift his Gzira tally to 20 and Essameldin, scoreless in the quarters today, collected 13.
CLASSIFICATION 13-14
BRAZIL 5 ROMANIA 12 (1-2, 2-4, 2-2, 0-4)
Romania made it four from seven for a week’s water polo and gained 13th place in its first outing at this event. It was steady play, keeping Brazil at bay and applying the afterburner in the final period. Brazil was 11th in 2022, so would be unhappy with a slip to 14th. Robert-Andrei Cimpoeru shot four goals — a high for him — and Denis Feke three — 12 for the week. Marcelo Winter went two for Brazil. On extra, Romania went three from four and Brazil three from six. Brazil sent in its only one penalty attempt and Romania had one of four stopped. Romania shot 20 to 16 times.
CLASSIFICATION 15-16
BULGARIA 12 GEORGIA 9 (2-3, 6-1, 2-2, 2-3)
These teams both won on days one and two and had to wait until the final day to see who would get a third victory and take 15th position. It was Bulgaria’s day, thanks to a powerful second quarter that pulled it from one down to four ahead. From then on Georgia held sway by a goal. Georgia was 17th last time, so improved a spot. Bulgaria was playing for the first time, so should be happy with a top-15 finish. Bulgaria went three from five on extra and Georgia three from six. Bulgaria scored two from four on penalty and Georgia converted its lone attempt. Niki Tsvetkov nailed four goals and Valentin Georgiev and Vladimir Stankov gained two each. Nikolozi Enukishvili and Luka Rubashvili scored two each for Georgia.
CLASSIFICATION 17-18
ISRAEL 8 MALTA 11 (4-2, 2-2, 2-4, 0-3)
Malta finished with a flourish with four successive victories to go with the opening-day win over Kazakhstan. Strange to think that a four-goal loss to Greece and a one-goal defeat by Romania could place it in the play-off for 17th. Such are the vagaries of the draw and the importance of winning at least two of the group matches. Israel was always in the hunt and drawing level at the final break, setting it up for the final quarter. However, it was shut down as Malta speared in three goals — on action, extra and a penalty goal three seconds from time. Shailon Cutajar scored three; Max Lanzon, Sean Mifsud and Sam Engerer (24 goals) two each. For Israel, Yuval Gal-on topped scorers (21 for week) with four and Itay Levi netted twice. On extra, Malta converted four from seven and defended three from six. Malta scored twice on penalty and Israel once. Malta threw in 31 shots to 20 — a huge difference.
CLASSIFICATION 19-20
SINGAPORE 9 TURKIYE 13 (0-7, 4-3, 2-2, 3-1)
Turkiye couldn’t wait to get on the plane, so threw one of the best quarters in the tournament, if not the best, to start proceedings. Singapore was shell-shocked, but regrouped to win the rest of the match 9-6. Singapore had some good results but will be ruing that first quarter all the way back home. Demir Pekcanli finished with four goals and Eymen Turan with three. Eamon New and Jaycus See were Singapore’s best with two each.
CLASSIFICATION 21-22
POLAND 12 UKRAINE 9 (2-1, 4-4, 2-2, 4-2)
It took four long minutes for Poland to score its first goal and nullify Ukraine’s advantage. Less than a minute later it was in the lead with Jan Zabski starting his mercurial run. Ukraine then reset with the next three goals for 4-2 and went ahead again for 5-4 before Poland scored two inside the final minute with Zabski netting his third. He collected his fourth midway through the third period on counter for 7-5. Ukraine’s Maksym Hurzan and Ivan Melnikov helped level the match at seven with a penalty goal and a score on extra. Kajetan Grabinski converted extra to get Poland up by the final break. Poland shot to 12-8 in the fourth with Ukraine gifted a penalty six seconds from time. Zabski was the star with five goals and Grabinski chimed in with three. Dmytro Kriuchov and Melnikov scored twice each for Ukraine. Both teams went three from five on extra. Poland missed one of its three penalty attempts and Ukraine made sure of two. Poland shot 24 to 21.
CLASSIFICATION 23-24
CHINA 11 SOUTH AFRICA 6 (3-1, 5-0, 2-2, 1-3)
China left no doubt with its intentions, starting strongly and then pulverising South Africa in the second quarter for an unassailable 8-1 halftime advantage. It was a third win to go with three one-goal losses — one in penalty shootout — so, despite the 23rd ranking, China has promise with this group of youngsters. Yiheng Yang was again at his finest with five goals to lift him to 34 for a tournament high. Jincheng Deng threw in three. South Africa’s Matthew Fenn claimed three to make 20 goals for him in Gzira. China ruled extra-man attack with four from seven and shutting out South Africa three times. Both teams converted a penalty foul and China had the better of shooting by three.
CLASSIFICATION 25-26
NEW ZEALAND 8 CANADA 7 (0-1, 1-2, 4-2, 3-2)
New Zealand awoke in the second half, shrugging off the 3-1 deficit to level the match at five in the third period. The Kiwis had control and scored the three go-ahead goals to which Canada replied with two. Canadian Noah Loo made it 7-7 at 1:05 only for New Zealand to score through Zavier Tuhuru, for his second, 16 seconds later. It proved to be the final result and New Zealand had won the clash of the Commonwealth nations. On extra, New Zealand converted two from five and defended two of Canada’s four attempts. Canada snared the only penalty goal and Canada shot 25 times to 22. Tuhuru netted twice for the Kiwis and Ivan Khramtsov — 21 in Gzira — and Darion Wang, twice each for Canada.
CLASSIFICATION 27-28
PERU 5 KAZAKHSTAN 14 (0-4, 0-4, 2-2, 3-4)
Those first two quarters said it all for Kazakhstan, grateful for a second victory. It was 21st in 2022 and now 27th in the expanded competition. There were four teams behind it then and five now. Zhambyl Karagul burst into the scoring with five goals, one more than star shooter Ramazan Abilkassym, who finished the series with 22 goals. Gerado Medrano scored twice for Peru. Goals were hard to come by on extra with Kazakhstan missing its one chance and denying Peru three of its four. Peru sent in two from three on penalty and Kazakhstan two from two. The victor had 25 shots to 21.
CLASSIFICATION 29-30
CZECHIA 8 SLOVENIA 10 (1-2, 4-3, 1-2, 2-3)
Slovenia gained a second successive win to go alongside the two penalty-shootout losses on the first two days. This year’s finish is a far cry from the 16th two years ago. If only those shootouts had gone the other way. Czechia levelled at 5-5 with a Nathan Bauer score two seconds from the halftime buzzer to inject some extra enthusiasm into his team. However, Slovenia pushed it out to 7-5 midway through the third. Radim Vildomec made it 7-6 a minute late and then no score came for nearly three minutes until the final break. Slovenia charged to 9-6 in two minutes, went to 10-7 and gifted a penalty shot inside the final minute for the final score. Luka Vujanovic topped the scoring with four goals and Rok Kirasic claimed two for the victor. Arseny Pashovsky finished with three, Bauer with two and Vildomec, also with two. Slovenia went three from six on extra and Czechia three from five. Czechia scored the only penalty goal of the match. Slovenia shot 18 to 15, possibly the lowest shooting of the week.
CLASSIFICATION 31-32
ZIMBABWE 7 MEXICO 11 (1-2, 1-3, 4-3, 1-3)
Mexico finally tasted success in Gzira and did it in style with a four-goal margin. Zimbabwe, playing its first tournament at this level, will have to wait another two years for its first victory. Mexico was not at the first edition. Mexico met resistance in the third period, but that 7-6 buffer helped in the fourth period. Christian Smith grabbed four goals for Zimbabwe to finish top scorer. Iker Mendoza scored three with Alan Hurtado and Paris Ponce adding two each for Mexico. For Ponce, 13 goals in seven matches was an excellent return. Mexico went three from five on extra and defended one from two. Zimbabwe gained two penalty goals to none. Mexico shot 28 times to 20.
FINAL CLASSIFICATIONS
Spain, Italy, Hungary, Montenegro, United States of America, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Netherlands, Australia, Egypt, Germany, Romania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Georgia, Malta, Israel, Turkey, Singapore, Poland, Ukraine, China, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Kazakhstan, Peru, Slovenia, Czechia, Mexico, Zimbabwe.