Men’s Division I Water Polo Tournament I Four qualify for Sydney finals

Overview

It was crunch day with finals berths up for grabs. Italy and Hungary went through without a blemish and Hungary needed a shootout win over Netherlands to also be undefeated. Greece lost a match — 13-12 to Hungary on day one — and Spain lost to Italy 12-10 on day one.

Thus Hungary and Greece emerged from Group A and Italy and Spain from Group B.

They will now play a round robin for the final rankings ahead of Sydney.

Serbia and Croatia will be the favoured two to top the five-eight group and gain the final berth for Sydney. Only five qualify as host Australia — contesting the Division II series in Malta —has an automatic berth. The top two from Malta (excluding Australia) will gain airline tickets for Sydney.

Match Reports

Match 9. Group A. SERBIA 10 HUNGARY 12 (2-3, 2-3, 3-5, 3-1)

Hungary qualified for Sydney with a third straight win, downing Serbia with a lead-all-the-way match win. Stefan Ciric was the lead coach for Serbia after the suspension of Uros Stevanovic after a red card the day before. The two-goal margin was actually closer as a final burst upfield by seven field players was thwarted and Gergo Fekete fired a shot from his six-metre line into the empty goal with seven seconds remaining. Vince Vigvari was the ultimate weapon for Hungary, netting four goals, including a spectacular backhand from five metres on the first-quarter buzzer. He had three up by halftime as Hungary led 6-4. Zsombor Vismeg stretched it to three on counter to start the second half and Peter Szalai scored from six metres to gift Hungary an 11-7 margin at the final break. Nikola Murisic and Nikola Lukic pulled it back to a two-goal deficit with their second goals and Vuk Milojevic needed VAR to get his shot across the line by 1:08. With a one-goal difference, Serbia went to a timeout at 0:30 and sent up seven field players to no avail. Fekete sealed the match at 0:07.

Match Heroes
Vince Vigvari was the standout for Hungary with four goals, Fekete chiming in with three while goalkeeper Soma Vogel snared nine saves. Lukic scored three for Croatia and Milan Glusac dragged down 12 saves in goal.

Turning Point
Vince Varga scoring the first goal. Serbia drew level at one, two and three but was always being distanced.

Stats Don’t Lie
Hungary controlled overall shots at 33-31; steals at an incredible 9-1; penalty goals two from two but was hampered on extra at two from seven compared to Serbia’s excellent five from nine.

Bottom Line
Hungary made it three from three with Serbia yet to gain a second win.

Match 10. Group B. ITALY 13 CROATIA 11 (2-1, 5-6, 4-2, 2-2)

Italy made it to Sydney, also scoring three wins to top the group, surviving a tight first three periods before swimming away for victory. It was a low-scoring first quarter with a torrent of goals in the second, Croatia having to level six times for 7-7 at the long break. Italy gained a two-goal edge early in the third quarter but three minutes later, Croatia was back on even terms when Vlaho Pavlic converted extra. Centre forward Francesco Cassia converted a penalty and a goal from the very-deep left for 11-9 at 1:29. Come the start of the fourth period, Matteo Iocchi Gratta nabbed his third, off the left-post position on extra, and then Giacomo Cannella scored his second from eight metres for 13-9. Each team took a timeout with Italy gaining a penalty, only for it to be stopped by captain Marko Bijac. Rino Buric at centre forward with multiple baulks and Pavlic from the penalty line closed the gap to two by 2:43, the final score.

Match Heroes
Iocchi Gratta scored three goals with player-of-the-match Gianmarco Nicosia making nine saves in goal for Italy. Lazic, Pavlic and Konstantin Kharkov scored a pair each for Croatia.

Turning Point
The 4-2 third period where the deadlock of 7-7 became 11-9 in Italy’s favour.

Stats Don’t Lie
Italy smashed home seven from 10 on extra and stopped seven from 13. Italy missed one of its three penalty attempts while Croatia claimed all three of its own. Italy made seven steals to two and shot 28-27.

Bottom Line
Italy looks like a dream team here, quietly going about its business and racking up the victories. Croatia has the hard task of gaining the last berth.

Match 11. Group A. NETHERLANDS 11GREECE 14 (3-4, 4-4, 2-2, 2-4)

Greece did not have it easy to qualify for Sydney, but control in the final quarter proved the difference between the two teams. The final minutes were mired in controversy and a long period with no play. Following Konstantinos Kakaris’ extra-man goal off a near-post pass at 3:52 in the final quarter, Greece found itself 12-10 ahead. Dimitrios Skoumpakis found himself on defence and swatted back a quick, short Dutch pass, into his own goal, gifting the Dutch with a one-goal deficit. Skoumpakis made amends with a blistering drag-down shot from the left post at 2:13, which was challenged by Dutch head coach Branko Mitrovic for perhaps being after the possession time? After much delay, he was red-carded. At 1:17, The Dutch went on attack with seven field players. The ball was lost and Stylianos Argyropoulos, who was such a towering figure in the match, was passed the ball and he scored from his own five-metre line, much like in the previous match. It was 14-11 at 0:56 — the final score. Greece held one-goal advantages at all breaks with Argyropoulos scoring three in the first quarter, two more in the second and his sixth in the third. Tom de Weerd dulled the Greek supporters when he took his team 9-8 ahead with his third strike early in the third period but Greece scored four of the next five goals to put itself in the steering seat.

Match Heroes
Argyropoulos by a country kilometre. He netted seven goals (15 in three matches) and once again led his team by action. De Weerd netted three for the Dutch and goalkeeper Jelto Spijker pulled in nine saves.

Turning Point
In a match that was tied six times, Netherlands turned the tables at 3-2 and 9-8. At 10-10 three minutes into the final quarter, the Dutch were there and the match ripe for the picking. However, Greece held its nerve and closed out the match.

Stats Don’t Lie
Greece fired home 10 from 15 on extra and blocked eight from 12. Each team scored a penalty goal; Greece won the steals 6-5 and Netherlands shot 34-33.

Bottom Line
Greece is still in the top four in the world and showed that today against a team that is fighting to show its rise to the top tier is warranted.

Match 12. Group B. SPAIN 15 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 8 (2-3, 5-2, 6-1, 2-2)

Spain ripped through to the Sydney finals in second place, following the first-day loss to Italy. It had to overcome a first-quarter deficit, quickly levelling, going ahead and commanding respect at 7-5 by halftime. USA suffered a penalty against for what appeared to be an illegal timeout, although USA vowed it did not ask for the break. USA was in the picture at this stage. However, Spain pumped in four unanswered goals — three on extra. Two more came in the quarter after USA’s Hannes Daube converted a penalty. Bernat Sanahuja scored the ninth and 13^th goals to lift him to three, but more importantly, giving his team a huge push to victory and the finals. Nicolas Saveljic scored twice in the final period for USA for 14-8 but Fran Valera punched in the final nail from deep right on action to show why the reigning champion should be in Sydney.

Match Heroes
Player-of-the-match Sanahuja shot three goals and Eduardo Lorrio made a magnificent 14 saves for Spain. Saveljic scored three for USA.

Turning Point
USA led the first quarter but a three-goal turnaround by Spain set it on the course for victory.

Stats Don’t Lie
Spain blitzed the extra-man statistics with seven from 11 and denying USA any of its five attempts. USA did score all three penalty attempts while Spain missed one of its two chances; won the steals 9-6 and outshot USA 33-28.

Bottom Line
Spain is the champion while USA is struggling to find form of yesteryear.

Final Points

Group A: Hungary 8, Greece 6, Serbia 3, Netherlands 1.
Group B: Italy 9, Spain 6, Croatia 3, United States of America 0.

Day 4 Schedule

13:30, Group D, Serbia v United States of America
15:30. Group D, Croatia v Netherlands
17:30. Group C, Italy v Greece
19:45, Group C, Hungary v Spain