ESP started its campaign with an 18-5 victory over RSA but the big movers were MNE and SRB, although the rankings have RUS, ROU, ESP and EGY at the top after a thrilling day of action
Overview
The first day was a shake-up day for all teams as they felt the water and found where they are ranked against 35 other teams. Just the one match went to the wire, MLT defeating CHN 12-11 in penalty shootout after the match was tied at 8-8.
First Round League Phase Match Reports
Match 1. KAZ 9 EGY 14 (3-2, 0-4, 2-2, 4-6)
Goals were traded just inside the three-minute mark and again either side of the one-minute mark. Assanali Amangeldinov gave KAZ the edge at the quarter. EGY played a clean sheet in the second quarter for 6-3 and went 7-4 ahead through Omar Mokhtar with a six-metre, free-throw shot. Dair Nuritdin and Duman Sagyndyk pulled two back before EGY closed the third period at 8-5 up. It became 10-8 after a flurry of shots and EGY pulled away for 14-9 — Hesham Nashaat scoring three — with a variety of action shots.
Match Heroes
Nashaat and Mokhtar netted four goals each for EGY with goalkeeper Abdallah Ahmed Saeed making a magnificent 13 saves at 59 per cent. Amangeldinova, Sagyndyk and Nutridin scored twice each for KAZ.
Stats Don’t Lie
EGY made three from eight and KAZ two from seven on extra. KAZ missed a penalty shot from two attempts and EGY scored one. KAZ made six steals to four and shot 34-24 but EGY’s success rate was 58.3 per cent.
Match 9. ESP 18 RSA 5 (3-2, 8-1, 6-1, 1-1)
ESP made the play for the first two goals with RSA catching up. From there it was an ESP onslaught, taking the 3-2 quarter score to 9-2 before Morgan Erasmus converted extra for RSA. Samu Diaz scored his second on extra and ESP was on the way to 11-3 at halftime. The score shifted to 14-3 with Lincoln Burger gaining his second goal at 14-4. Cesc Aguirre closed the scoring on counter at 17-4 by the last break. Burger countered to start the fourth period and just over a minute later Unai Arrate finished all scoring at 4:04 with stout defence stopping the board from ticking over any further.
Match Heroes
Aguirre with four goals and Diaz scoring three were ESP’s best. Burger rammed in three RSA goals.
Stats Don’t Lie
ESP converted three from five on extra and the Africans two from three. ESP made two penalty goals, dominated the steals at 20-5 and the shots at 30-13 with a 60 per cent average.
Match 2. GER 19 URU 1 (7-0, 2-0, 7-1, 3-0)
GER was untroubled against newcomer URU and only let the drawbridge down briefly in the third period. The one-way traffic slowed somewhat in the second period as URU discovered its defence but let the reins go in the third before finding them again in the fourth. Six from GER scored at 100 per cent and Justus Oestreich scored his five off seven attempts.
Match Heroes
GER’s Oestreich and Nico Buchelt scored five each and captain Jonas Seidel four. Mateo Campal took in five saves for URU.
Stats Don’t Lie
GER was perfect on extra with seven goals while stopping five of URU’s six attempts. GER missed one of three penalty attempts. The steals were shared at six and the shots favoured GER 25-9 and 76 per cent for the victor.
Match 10. SGP 14 POL 8 (5-1, 0-2, 4-3, 5-2)
Three counter-attack goals in the first five gave SGP the edge and set the scene for the rest of the match. Mikolaj Ksiezyk converted extra, 30 seconds from the first break for 5-1. It was completely different in the second quarter as POL took charge, scored on extra at 5:34 and played excellent defence; missing a penalty attempt and then scoring on action to Bartlomie Topolski with 14 seconds left on the clock and 5-3 at halftime. Goals were swapped midway through the third quarter with Zavier Ang and Krzysztof Glaz shifting the scoreboard. Gerald Sng scored at 0:51 with Glaz nailing a penalty goal and Sng finishing off an attack for 9-6 — both those goals coming in the last 20 seconds. Sng on extra and Ksiezyk from the penalty line had the score at 10-7 with 5:11 left on the clock. SGP scored four goals in the next four minutes — two to Ryan Chua — and Topolski landed a missile from outside for 14-8 on the final buzzer.
Match Heroes
Sng netted four; Chua and captain Ang three each for SGP while the goalkeepers snaffled nine saves between them. For POL, captain Ksiezyk, Topolski and Glaz scored a brace each.
Stats Don’t Lie
SGP converted two from five and POL two from four on extra. SGP scored its penalty chance and POL missed one from three. On steals, SGP had the edge at 8-6 and the shots at 24-21 but with a 58.3 percentage as opposed to 38.1.
Match 3. NED 24 CZE 0 (7-0, 6-0, 6-0, 5-0)
Playing indoors, NED proved too good for CZE with a withering start that had the Czechs struggling to get access to the Dutch goal. NED was four up by halfway the rough the opening quarter. Damian Doumenis was the only multiple scorer. He scored his third from two metres for 9-0as the score mounted to 13-0 with a minute remaining until halftime. Tieme Harding brought up the 11th and 13th goals to give him three by halftime. CZE managed two shots on goal, one better than the first quarter. The third period was much the same with Roemer Vet scoring on extra and counter and Stijn Snelleman scoring at centre and on counter. By the final break it was 19-0. Roemer and Doumenis on counter started the final period with two more counter goals making it 23-0. Frantisek Novotny came the closest for CZE, hitting the post on extra at 0:28 but Doumenis finalised the scoring with five seconds left for 24-0.
Match Heroes
Doumenis finished with five from five attempts; Vet hit four and Boris Dobrenovic scored a hat-trick for NED. CZE made nine shots for no score.
Stats Don’t Lie
NED converted three from three on extra to CZE’s none from five. NED sent in two from three shots on penalty; won the steals 18-4 and the shots 32-9.
Match 11. TUR 17 MEX 1 (4-0, 6-0, 6-0, 1-1)
TUR was enjoying the sunshine and the Zagreb water, knocking up 10 goals by halftime. Four different players scored in the first quarter with Emir Zulfikari scoring his second to start the second-quarter scoring and Halil Cerit firing in the seventh on extra and the eighth on counter. Cevdet Terliksiz, who scored the opener on extra, started the third period for 11-0. Kemalcan Onur converted a penalty and two goals later took the counter and drew the keeper before shooting for 14-0. Doruk Guzel backhanded with his left arm for 15-0, two goals after a team-mate’s right-handed backhand. TUR went into the final period 16-0 up. Gonzalo Rodriguez brought some joy to MEX with his score at 5:11 in the fourth while the best TUR could do was a penalty conversion at 2:03 for 17-1.
Match Heroes
Onur and captain Cagan Kir scored three each with seven other scorers.
Stats Don’t Lie
TUR converted four from seven and defended all six MEX attacks. TUR claimed three penalty goals; won the steals 11-5 and the shots 29-14.
Match 4. BRA 13 ISR 7 (4-0, 2-4, 3-2, 4-1)
Murilo Malardo scored twice as Brazil won the first period 4-0. Ricardo Duarte shot from outside the spark the second period with Yali Winberg and Omri Doron Segev scoring centre-forward goals for Israel. Goals were traded and in the closing minute, Aviv Gidron converted extra for 6-4. Brazil went to 8-and 9-5 thanks to Caina Mendes on extra. Doron Segev scored on extra after a timeout, six seconds from the final break for 9-6, still in with a chance. Duarte and Mendes took it to 11-6; a swap including Duarte had it at 12-7 by 3:16. A Brazilian goal in the final minute kept Israel winless on day one.
Match Heroes
Mendez and captain Duarte scored three apiece for BRA and goalkeeper Vinicius Meira nailed nine saves. Doron Segev was the only double scorer for Israel.
Stats Don’t Lie
BRA captured five from nine on extra and defended seven of 12, probably the core of the Israeli loss. BRA managed three outside shots to none; took the steals 10-2 and won the shooting at 59-33 per cent accuracy.
Match 12. NZL 20 POR 10 (5-2, 3-2, 5-3, 7-3)
NZL had excellent control at centre forward, scoring six from nine attempts. This was where the match was won; superb feeds setting up the likes of Hugo Tuffery who claimed four goals in the position. Jonah Teokotai started proceedings and Hugo Martin replied for POR. Tuffery scored the first of his centre-forward shots and Eddie Perry converted the first of five penalty shots. NZL was on its way. Goals were traded and NZL added another on extra for 5-2 at the first break. It became 8-4 at halftime thanks to another penalty strike and two on counter. Paulo Pinto netted his second for POR, grabbing the rebound of a saved penalty attempt to score at 7-4. Three of the first four goals in the third period were from the penalty line. Martin grabbed another for POR before Tuffery made it 13-5 from centre forward. POR sparked a revival after a timeout, netting twice before the last break. NZL progressed to 20-8 with two Teotaki counter goals before POR landed the last two goals in the final 31 seconds.
Match Heroes
Teokotai rammed home seven goals with Tuffery and captain Luca Mayall chiming in with four each for NZL. Pinto scored a hat-trick for POR.
Stats Don’t Lie
NZL buried five penalty goals and POR one from two. On extra, NZL scored only one from three and defended three of five. The steals went the way of NZL 16-7 and overall shots 31-23 for a 64.5 percentage.
Match 5. HUN 16 UKR 4 (3-1, 5-1, 3-2, 5-0)
HUN went 2-0 and finished the period 3-1 ahead with the second goal coming on penalty and UKR’s score on extra. HUN shot out to 8-1, with Barnabas Saska scoring three straight. Matvii Savka responded, 21 seconds from the halftime buzzer. Oliver Szaka was in a swap at the start of the third period and again midway through. Saska punched in the 11-4 goal. HUN netted the first two of the fourth quarter and Szaka started a three-goal HUN roll to the final buzzer.
Match Heroes
Saska scored four and captain Szaka three for Hungary. Ukraine’s best was goalkeeper Anton Shushunov, dragging down nine saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
HUN converted two from four on extra and UKR one from two. On penalties, HUN scored one and UKR missed one from two. HUN won the steals 12-7 and shot 31-15
Match 13. USA 12 PERU 2 (1-1, 3-0, 4-0, 4-1)
USA missed a penalty attempt and PER hit the lead with a Luis Llanos extra-player goal. Owen Marks responded and Llanos hit the post on penalty. Grayson Taylor broke the impasse at 4:30 in the second quarter on extra, starting a ripple of goals for 4-1 by halftime. Taylor, Marks — both on extra — and Liam Zarcu, on counter, took the score to 7-1. Aden Shin, a member of the silver-medal-winning USA team at the recent U18 world championships, scoring nine goals, converted a penalty foul to close the half at 8-1. Channing Wigo — with a famous USA water polo name — scored twice, on extra and penalty, for 10-2. Zarcu and Harry Siafaris finished the scoring at 12-2, 32 seconds from time.
Match Heroes
Marks, Taylor, Wigo and Zarcu scored twice each for USA.
Stats Don’t Lie
USA converted four from five on extra and Peru one from one. USA missed one from three on penalty and PER one from two. The steals went the way of USA 10-1; the shots 22-10 and the outside shots two to nil.
Match 6. ITA 23 MAS 1 (4-0, 7-0, 7-1, 5-0)
MAS was totally outclassed by a shark Italian line-up. The statistics say it all with Malaysia managing just the four shots as ITA smothered the Asians in every part of the pool. Italy is heading for better things and Malaysia will find more joy in the latter days of the event.
Match Heroes
Riccardo Iavicoli topped the scoring with five goals while Filippo Gori, Federico Masetti, Adriano Rosa and Mario Filippi scored a hat-trick each.
Stats Don’t Lie
ITA converted its shooting statistic at 69.7 per cent showing its superiority in this encounter. USA nailed counter with four from four; three penalty goals; one from one on extra and five from seven on centre shots. The steals were 19-1 to USA. MAS can look at one goal from four shots.
Match 14. MNE 34 ZIM 2 (10-0, 9-0, 9-1, 6-1)
ZIM was at the blunt end of a determined MNE side willing to show its skills ahead of tighter matches. The statistics explain the tenor of the match. One step was fantastically good and the other inexperienced against bigger players. Both ZIM goals came from the penalty line.
Match Heroes
Vuk Rackovic buried five goals; Branko Durdevac and Vukasin Gojkovic four each. Lazar Stepanov, Matija Franeta and Jovan Abramovic netted three each as all 12 players made the sheet.
Stats Don’t Lie
MNE converted nine from 10 on extra and failed to give up a foul that ZIM could exploit. MNE missed two from four on penalty and ZIM made both its chances. MNE made a jaw-dropping 29 steals to four. The overall shots went 46-6 to SRB.
Match 7. AUS 11 SLO 8 (3-2, 1-1, 4-4, 3-1)
Bine Strojmajer drilled from the top and again on penalty to start the match and have SLO 2-0 up. Luka Trbojevic Cabrera, whose sister played the recent U16 girls worlds, is the son of former Yugoslavian international Petar Trbojevic, a dual Olympic medallist. He brought up Australia’s first goal on extra with a bouncer from top left and then the 3-2 goal from the same position. Goals were hard to come by in the second quarter, Vuk Petrovic equalising at 1:46 on extra. Patrick Bonser closed the half from deep left with seven seconds left on the clock. Nate Kell and Petrovic traded early in the third period with John Ziros and Petrovic exchanging for 6-5. Bonser and Ziros made it 8-5 before SLO responded with a pair, Strojmajer netting 13 seconds from the final break for 8-7. Strojmejer levelled from top right on extra at 5:30. However, AUS sucked up the assaults and went on the charge with the last three goals, Kell securing the match at 11-8 inside the final minute.
Match Heroes
Trbojevic Cabrera, Bonser, Ziros and Kell netted twice each for AUS and goalkeeper Jacob Hebden made a huge 10 saves. Stromajer scored four goals and Petrovic three for SLO.
Stats Don’t Lie
AUS converted five from eight on extra and SLO three from seven. SLO scored the only penalty goal; the steals were squared at six; AUS shot 21-23 but with a 52.2 percentage compared to 34.8.
Match 15. GRE 4 RUS 7 (2-2, 0-1, 1-2, 1-2)
This match provided some interesting ranking points with Russia shooting to the top and Greece to the bottom. It was a truly intense encounter with GRE taking the lead and Vladimir Koptsev scoring twice to take the advantage at 1:36. Panagiotis Korakas countered for 2-2 at 0:54. At 2:23 in the second quarter, Koptsev converted extra for 3-2 and the only goal of the period. At 3:24 in the third, Grigorii Agarkov drilled one from outside for 4-2. Goals were exchanged in quick succession and it was 5-3 heading into the final quarter. It was not until 1:49 that RUS struck from outside and then on counter for 7-3, leaving GRE to take a timeout, successfully gain the exclusion and gain a penalty foul for Korakas to convert at 0:22 — too late for a comeback.
Match Heroes
Captain Koptsev score thrice and goalkeeper Ivan Kosarev made a miraculous 12 saves. Korakas was the only double scorer for GRE.
Stats Don’t Lie
RUS converted three from five on extra and stopped all 11 of GRE’s chances — a real match wrecker. GRE missed one of two penalty shots; RUS took the steals at 11-nine; and had fewer shots at 22-23 but with nearly double the average of GRE. RUS also scored three shots from outside.
Match 17. CRO 20 GEO 4 (3-1, 5-1, 4-0, 8-2)
CRO had three goals in the bag before Georgi Surmava leaned on his back, accepted an outside pass and scored from two metres for 3-1. Duje Srzic converted a penalty foul and Toni Cvitan nailed extra from centre forward off a cross pass. Andrie Tsirdava bounced one in from the top for 5-2. However, CRO sent in three more, including a Vlaho Rajcevic penalty goal for 8-2 by halftime. Four goals came CRO’s way in the third with Srzic hitting the crossbar on penalty. Rajcevic and Srzic lifted the score to 14-2 before GEO’s Luka Tuskia speared one in from deep left for 14-3 at 4:41. Three more CRO goals came before Saba Abuladze converted a penalty for 17-4. Another triple had CRO winning 20-4.
Match Heroes
Rajcevic top-scored with four; Cvitan and Srzic scored a hat-trick each. Ten players scored for CRO.
Stats Don’t Lie
CRO netted five from 10 on extra and stopped all three of Georgia’s chances. It converted four from five on penalty and CEO one from one. The steals favoured CRO 7-6 and the shots 27-16 at 74.1 per cent.
Match 16. SRB 26 PUR 3 (7-0, 7-0, 7-0, 5-3)
PUR had no answer to SRB’s ferocity and did not come into the picture until the final quarter when it was nearly over. The statistics show where SRB dominated, leaving PUR with few chances until the last five minutes when Luis de Zengotita broke the ice on extra at 24-1 and Yanmanuel Diaz followed up with an outside shot 40 seconds later. Nemanja Grgic scored consecutive SRB penalty goals and with 18 seconds remaining, Pablo Miguel converted extra for 26-3 at 0:18.
Match Heroes
All 12 SRB field players scored with Marko Abadzic and Andrej Lazic netting four each and Uros Muncan and Strahinja Milutinovic three apiece.
Stats Don’t Lie
SRB went five from seven on extra and PUR two from four. SRB scored all five penalty attempts; made 16 steals to three and shot 37 to 15 times. SRB also scored six counter-attack goals.
Match 8. CAN 6 ROU 9 (2-4, 1-0, 2-2, 1-3)
Calin Borcea had three of the first four goals for ROU and Vlad Nistor the other from penalty. It was a powerful opening by ROU and had the team well place at 4-2 by the quarter break — CAN’s Dragos Pirusca sent in a slider from the top nine seconds from the clock. Samuel Pires also sent in a late shot, the 4-3 goal inside the final two seconds of the second quarter from deep left — the only goal of the six minutes. Bogdan-Andrei Nica secured ROU’s first goal in nearly eight minutes, scoring on extra for 5-3. Goals were exchanged and CAN’s Victor Hillier went on counter for 6-5 behind at 3:29. The next goal did not come until 3:38 of the final period via a Nistor penalty goal. Pires replied for 7-6 down; Nica converted a penalty and Nistor countered for 9-6 at 0:31 for the winner.
Match Heroes
ROU captain Nistor and Borcea scored three each. Pires was CAN’s sole dual scorer.
Stats Don’t Lie
ROU converted two from three on extra and stopped all three Canadian attempts. ROU made all three penalty shots and CAN missed a penalty attempt. CAN stole the ball seven times to five and ROU shot 26 to 22.
Match 18. CHN 11 MLT 12 in penalty shootout. FT 8-8. Pens: 3-4. (1-1, 1-4, 3-1, 3-2)
This was the closest match of the day and pulsated until the last whistle when Zhou Letian threw the 8-8 equaliser at 0:22 to send the match to penalties. MLT started and CHN levelled. The same occurred at the start of the second period but Luca Schiavone at centre forward and Nathan Spiteri from outside increased the distance to 4-2. Jake Abela move it to 5-2 at 2:09, the halftime score. Zhou scored from outside for 5-3 down at 3:34 in the third period; goals were exchanged and at 0:25, Wang Yintian converted extra for 6-5. Jake Simpson scored his second at 4:20 in the fourth on extra. Li Bingze replied on extra at 3:07. CHN took a timeout but hit the post on the requisite shot. However, at 1:12, Luo Zijin converted extra for 7-7; Schiavone replied from centre at 0:56 and Zhou made the equaliser for the penalties. MLT missed its second shot and Zhou hit wood with CHN’s third. The next three were successful, MLT head coach Paul Privitera received a yellow card; CHN missed and MLT converted for the victory.
Match Heroes
Schiavone was MLT’s best with three goals. Captain Li and Zhou scored twice each for CHN.
Stats Don’t Lie
MLT only scored one from four on extra while CHN was more clinical at six from nine. CHN made nine steals to three and shot 28 to 23, however the percentage was on 28.6 compared to Malta’s 34.8. Both teams scored just the one outside shot for a total of 22.
Progress Percentage Points
RUS 104.8
ROU 97.6
ESP 96.6
EGY 95.2
MLT 93.2
NZL 91.8
ITA 89.4
TUR 88.2
NED 85.8
BRA 84.6
GER 83.4
HUN 82.2
AUS 82
SGP 81
CRO 78.6
USA 77.4
MNE 76.2
SRB 75
RSA 65.8
PER 64.6
GEO 63.4
ZIM 62.2
UKR 61
PUR 58.6
MAS 57.4
SLO 56.4
POL 55
ISR 53.8
CHN 53.6
MEX 49
CAN 48
POR 47.8
URU 45.4
CZE 44.2
KAZ 34.8
GRE 30
Day 2 Schedule
08:00: KAZ v EGY
08:35: ESP v RSA
10:00: GER v URU
10:05: SGP v POL
11.30: NED v CZE
11:35 TUR v MEX
13:00: BRA v ISR
13:05: NZL v POR
14:30: HUN v UKR
14:35: USA v PER
16:00: ITA v MAS
16:05: MNE v ZIM
17:30: AUS v SLO
17:35: GRE v RUS
19:00: CRO v GEO
19:05: SRB v PUR
20:30: CAN v ROU
20:35: CHN v MLT