Defending champion ESP will play USA in one semifinal and CRO will take on neighbour SRB in the other on Saturday. In the medal quarterfinals, ESP defeated ITA in a penalty shootout 17-14 after it was drawn at 13-13; USA downed RUS 10-8; CRO bounced EGY 15-3 and SRB downed BRA 11-7.
Overview
The medal semifinalists have been found as we reach the sharp end of the tournament. Of the quarters, the ITA-ESP clash was the closest with the shootout proving destructive for ITA. USA needed a 4-0 final quarter to overcome the plucky RUS. CRO was 7-1 up at halftime over EGY and SRB was never headed in any quarter against EGY.
In the battle for 9-16 positions, GRE powered past ROU 11-7, HUN held off GER 13-11, TUR overturned AUS in the final quarter 5-4 and MLT held off a fast-finishing NZL 15-12.
Match Reports
Classification 1-8 Quarterfinal
Match 87. ITA 14 ESP 17 in penalty shootout: FT: 13-13. Pens: 1-4. (4-3, 4-2, 3-4, 2-4)
This was always going to be close and to go to a shootout was no surprise. After all, these are the quarterfinals. ESP was keen to maintain its previous team’s spectacular gold-medal status from Gzira, Malta in 2024. ITA was the beaten finalist then, so it was a virtual rematch of two years ago, but in the quarters. Goals were traded twice at the start with both teams having the lead. Filippo Gori brought the match ITA’s way and Francesco Putrino converted extra for 4-1. Samu Diaz replied on extra for 4-3 at the first break. Putrino and Diaz swapped at the top of the second quarter with Putrino leading a two-goal surge for 7-4. Adri Lopez responded but Federico Masetti returned the three-goal advantage to ITA at 1:34. Mario Filippi converted a penalty foul and ITA was four up. There were two more trades for 11-7. Play changed a little when Rafael Luengo and Unai Arrate converted extra plays for 11-9 at the final break. Johnny Shinske, so much in the goals this week, narrowed it to one at 5:38 on action. Lopez levelled at 3:32 from the top and an ITA timeout could not arrest the slide as Arrate converted extra at 2:21 for 12-11. Masetti scored from centre forward for 12-12 at 0:59. An ESP timeout set the scene for Lopez to score off a six-metre, free-throw shot at 0:44 and, crucially, the 13-12 advantage. At 0:17, ESP’s guard slipped as Gabriele Rumolo scored from two metres to force the shootout. ESP led the shooting and scored its first two and ITA hit the right upright; ESP scored; ITA hit the left post and Diaz scored to win the match with a 4-1 shootout.
Match Heroes
Lopez and Arrate gained three goals each for ESP and the goalkeepers were strong, stopping 11 with Alex Vilar making an incredible nine stops in three periods of play. Putrino nabbed four goals and Masetti three as seven made the sheet.
Stats Don’t Lie
ESP converted six from 10 on extra and ITA three from eight. ESP missed one of two penalty attempts while ITA scored all three of its chances. The steals were squared at six and ESP had the better shooting at 54.2 to 50 per cent. ITA scored twice on counter.
Match 89. BRA 7 SRB 11 (1-3, 2-2, 1-2, 3-4)
SRB was troubled by NED before a three-goal win, so this was the second closest for SRB this week. BRA loses its unbeaten record but will finish far higher than 14th two years ago. It also finished 11th in 2022. Maksim Kreckovic scored SRB’s first two goals as the margin stretched to 3-1 through a Blagoje Lale penalty conversion. Kreckovic had his third not until 1:59 of the second period with Ricardo Duarte responding from a six-metre, free-throw score at 1:32 and 4-2 down. A last-minute trade had the halftime score at 5-3 to SRB. Murilo Malardo converted extra in the first minute of the third and Dusan Samardzic countered for 6-4. Uros Muncan made it 7-4 before the last break. He countered to start the fourth and then swapped captain goals with Duarte for 9-5. Duarte was in another trade while a final exchange around the final minute finished all scoring at 11-7.
Match Heroes
Kreckovic and captain Muncan netted three each for SRB and goalie Nemanja Palezevic dragged down nine saves. Captain Duarte made three strikes for BRA and goalkeeper Vinicius Meira stopped eight shots.
Stats Don’t Lie
Both teams shot two from four on extra; SRB made two and BRA missed one of two on penalty; BRA won the steals four-three and SRB came out on top on shots with 39.3 to 30.4 per cent. SRB buried three form four on counter.
Classification 9-16
Match 83. ROU 7 GRE 11 (2-4, 1-2, 2-4, 2-1)
GRE made it a hard win, not scoring on action and relying heavily on extra and penalties and then not scoring those well. For a team that should be in the top eight, this was not the day to under-perform. Panagiotis Korakas scored on counter and Ilias Zafeiris on extra by 3:25. At 2:02, Konstantinos Litinas put away a penalty shot and Angelos Almpertis converted extra for 4-0 at 1:25. Iustinian Albota and Marc Leorda on extra, two seconds from time, narrowed the score to 4-2 in favour of GRE. Korakas scored on penalty early in the second period and, after GRE fluffed a penalty shot, ROU scored and Zafeirou replied on extra for 6-3 by the long break. Litinas and Albota traded at the top of the third period and Xenofon Karalis made sure of his penalty attempt. Zafeiriou converted extra at 3:19; another penalty failed to cross the line and at 0:49, Vlad Nistor sent in an outside missile from a six-metre, free throw for 9-5. GRE stretched it to five on extra, five seconds from the buzzer. At 2:32 in the last quarter, David Filipoiu scored from centre forward and Almpertis scored on counter at 0:24 for 11-6. Milan Flore closed the shooting on extra at 0:08 for 11-7.
Match Heroes
Litinas, Zafeiriou, Korakas and Almpertis scored twice and goalkeeper Andreas Glyniadakis made 12 saves. Albota was the sole double scorer for ROU with Ilie Maximciuc grabbing 11 saves from goal.
Stats Don’t Lie
GRE scored an excellent six from 10 on extra and defended a brilliant seven from nine. That was the match. GRE made only three shots on seven for penalties with ROU gaining one from two. ROU took the steals five to three and the shooting favoured GRE 37.9 to 22.6. GRE countered twice.
Match 84. HUN 13 GER 11 (4-3, 3-3, 4-3, 2-2)
HUN had the better of the first and third quarters but it was tough going as the sharper end of the tournament attests. HUN put away the first two goals with GER responding through Justus Oestreich on extra. Jonas Siedel and Basil Blanc converted extra plays for 3-2. Benedek Nagy and Oliver Szaka, with his second, regained the lead at 4-3 by the first break. Laszlo Papp and Oestreich traded midway through the period with Blanc nailing a second goal on extra for 5-5. Nagy on penalty and Seidel on extra took it to 6-6 and a last-gasp shot secured the 7-6 HUN advantage at halftime. Oestreich and Nagy swapped goals and Nagy made it 9-7 on action at 2:56. Seidel and Szaka had an exchange and Oestreich converted extra for 10-9. Szaka drilled from the top for 11-9 by the final break. Nagy from the outside and Seidel on penalty made it 12-10 at 4:41. Seidel converted extra for 12-11 at 3:44. HUN called a timeout at 0:47, earned an exclusion and converted at 0:34 through Szaka for the 13-11 victory.
Match Heroes
Nagy and HUN captain Szaka scored five each. Captain Seidel netted five goals and Oestreich four with goalkeeper Karlo Thiele making nine saves for GER..
Stats Don’t Lie
HUN converted four from six on extra and shut down eight of GER’s 15 chances. On penalties, HUN missed one of three and GER nailed both chances. ON steals, HUN led five to one. ON overall shots, GER won 50 per cent to 44.8. HUN scored twice from outside.
85. MLT 15 NZL 12 (3-4, 4-1, 5-3, 3-4)
Simpson was to be a huge thorn in the side of the Kiwi contingent and started in the first 12 seconds, on extra. Goals were traded and Olly Jones sent in a penalty shot followed by Simpson on extra for 3-2. Kenrich Shek countered for the equaliser and Caden Fuatimau also countered for the quarter-time advantage. Luca Schiavone at centre and Simpson on counter regained the lead midway through the second quarter. There was another trade before Giulio Massa converted extra 20 seconds from halftime for 7-5 to MLT. There was a swap in the first minute of the third period and Mathias Fenech had the margin at three. Simpson and Nathan Spiteri lifted it to five with Gianni Gola scoring from the top for 11-7. Eddie Perry scored on extra and Simpson replied from outside for 12-8 at the last break. Simpson and Benjamin Lewis for his second, this time on penalty, took it to 14-8. Perry on penalty and Jonah Teokotai on action brought the Kiwis to 14-10. There was more joy at 1:34 when Olly Scott plundered an extra-man goal and at 14-11 when Gola went on counter for 14-12, still in with a chance. However, Simpson sat up on extra for his seventh goal at 0:43 and the result was final.
Match Heroes
Simpson was best in pool with seven goals from 10 shots. Goalkeeper Luigi Gatt made 10 saves to be an equal hero for MLT. For the Kiwis, Jones, Perry and Gola netted a brace each as nine players made the sheet. Chase Davies took in seven saves from the cage.
Stats Don’t Lie
MLT was near flawless on extra with figures of seven for eight compared to three from eight. MLT scored one and NZL two penalty goals. MLT led the steals at eight to six and the shots at 60-40 per cent. NZL converted all three counter attacks to one.
Match 86. TUR 5 AUS 4 (0-1, 1-1, 2-2, 2-0)
NED beat ISR 5-4 on day three, so this was the equal-lowest match of the week of the 81 played to date. Thomas Gamble started for AUS at 4:35 and the next goal did not come until 4:39 of the second period when Aussie Jack Putter drilled from the top. Omer Ozdemir came up with TUR’s first goal at 1:33 to close the half. Jonah Edelman scored from centre for 3-1 early in the third period with Patrick Bonser continuing the Aussie dominance, scoring on extra at 3:16. Onur Kemalcan netted on counter for 4-2 and Efe Ilik put away a penalty goal, 18 seconds from the final break for 4-3 down. Cagan Kir, with a huge scoring record in Zagreb, made his first for the equaliser from the top. Emir Zulfikari followed soon after for 5-4. AUS took a timeout, gained a penalty foul and had the shot horrifyingly saved at the six-second mark, missing out on a shootout.
Match Heroes
No player scored more than one and the best player had to be Aussie keeper Levi Clapper with six saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
TUR missed all three opportunities on extra and AUS made one from three. Penalties were equally hard with TUR missing one of two and AUS two of two. Steals went six-one to TUR and the shots27.8 to 20 per cent — 18-20. Neither side scored on counter and only AUS netted from centre forward.
Classification 17-24
Match 78. NED 13 POL 6 (2-0, 4-1, 2-3, 5-2)
NED collected its fourth win of the week and POL has two. After going 2-0 up by 4:46, no further goals came 3:02 of the second quarter when Boris Dobrenovic and Rink van der Weijden started a run. Van der Weijden scored from in front and Ayvrian van Eck did the same at 0:16 for 6-0. Kornel Szczerba concocted an extra-man goal with two seconds remaining to get POL on the board. Goals were traded at the top of the third period and Witold Babula and Levedi Stepinski converted extra for 7-4. Damian Doumenis added to his haul this week on penalty before the buzzer for 8-4. An exchange had it at 9-5; Dobrenovic countered; POL replied on extra and Doumenis made it 11-6 on extra. NED scored the last two with van der Weijden picking up his fourth on extra.
Match Heroes
Van der Weijden scored four from five for NED with eight shooters making the sheet. For POL, its best player was goalkeeper Nataniel Wojcicki with eight saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
NED converted four from seven and POL four from eight on extra. NED missed two of three penalty opportunities. NED won the steals eight to six and the shooting 54.2 to 31.6 per cent.
Classification 25-32
Match 74. RSA 6 ISR 9 (5-3, 0-2, 0-3, 1-1)
ISR overcame a slow start to capture the middle periods and hold out in the last. Yoav Berger and Lincoln Burger sandwiched in the opening goals with a trade quickly following. Morgan Erasmus scored his second penalty goal and Michael Ben Eliahou came back on action. Burger netted his second at 0:40 and Chris Davidson sent in a penalty goal for RSA to be 5-3 ahead. Ben Eliahou scored from centre and Yali Winberg on extra for 5-5 at 3:27, the score lasting until the long break. ISR sent in a quick pair two minutes into the third quarter and Omri Danel converted extra at 2:15 for 8-5. An RSA timeout failed to get anything another than a missed shot. Both teams struggled to score in the fourth, Burger pulling one back for RSA at 0:50 and Aviv Gidron plugging extra with four seconds left for 9-6.
Match Heroes
Ben Eliahou was the only double scorer for ISR and Burger was best for RSA with a hat-trick.
Stats Don’t Lie
ISR was sharp on extra with six from seven and defending all seven RSA attempts. ISR missed a penalty but RSA made sure of all four shots. ISR stole the ball eight to nil and had the better shots at 39.1 to 33.3 per cent.
Match 75. POR 8 CHN 14 (1-5, 2-3, 1-4, 4-2)
CHN collected its first victory in Zagreb, shooting to a 3-0 lead and then 5-1 by the first break. Qian Yushun scored twice, the first on action and the second on extra. Luo Zijin closed the shooting on penalty, five seconds from the break. Li Bingze converted extra and Miguel Santos replied for 6-2 midway through the second quarter. Goals were traded and Huang Hengwei scored on extra just before the halftime buzzer. Qian made it three on extra for 10-3 and Huang chipped in another. Wang Yintian, who scored the seventh goal, made it 12-3 in extra and Paulo Pinto converted extra just before the last break. Two more POR goals came with Pinto on action narrowed the margin to six. Li and Santos traded with Luo scoring from the penalty line at 0:33 and Pinto converting extra with six seconds left.
Match Heroes
Captain Li and Qian top-scored with three each for CHN. Pinto was POR’s best with three.
Stats Don’t Lie
CHN scored eight from 12 on extra and POR three from six. CHN scored both penalty attempts and POR missed its one chance. The steals went three each and CHN’s shooting was at 66.7 per cent to 40.
Match 76. SLO 20 ZIM 1 (4-1, 5-0, 5-0, 6-0)
SLO gained its second big win of the tournament after thrashing PUR 18-1 on day two after a close 11-8 loss to AUS on the opening day. For ZIM, it was the third big loss on a row and four in all while its second-day effort — 8-6 loss to CZE has been its high point to date. The sole joy for ZIM was Ewan Burbidge’s six-metre, free-throw goal at 4-1 late in the first quarter. From then on, it was all SLO.
Match Heroes
Bor Skrlj made a perfect five from five and Vuk Petrovic knocked in three from four. Eight other players scored for SLO. The ZIM goalkeepers combined for eight saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
SLO mastered extra at eight from 12 and stopped both ZIM chances. On penalty, SLO made two from three and took the steals 14 to one. On shots, SLO eclipsed ZIM 54.1 to 7.7 per cent.
Match 77. UKR 12 CZE 3 (4-1, 2-0, 4-2, 2-0)
UKR added to its wins after downing PUR 19-4 on day four. CZE still has the one win over ZIM on day two. Timur Tsariuk scored twice in the opening quarter with Vitali Dyadyura scoring the second from top. Tobin Bensch scored at centre for CZE for 4-1 to close the first period. Ivan Komchadalov and Dyadyura made it 6-1 by halftime. Stout CZE resistance kept UKR out for some time with two UKR goals in the second minute and a Timon Bauer reply at centre for 8-2 at 1:28. Oleksandr Olshanskyi scored consecutive goals — penalty and counter — for 10-2 and Frantisek Novotny made it 10-3 from centre forward at 0:21. Dyadyura shot from the top to start the fourth quarter and Anton Trostynskyi confirmed the result for 12-3 from centre at 0:38. He had earlier scored the eighth UKR goal on counter.
Match Heroes
UKR captain Dyadyura top-scored with three goals while CZE’s best was goalkeeper Ondrej Zajcenko with six saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
UKR failed to score on three extra-man chances but stopped all four of ZIM’s, the first match where neither team gained an extra-man goal. UKR missed one of two penalty shots; led the steals at six to two and shot 44.4 per cent to 21.4. UKR did nail two counter-attack goals, though.
Classification 33-36
Match 82. PUR 8 MAS 18 (1-2, 2-7, 4-4, 1-5)
MAS, who lost 23-3 to RUS on day two, picked up its first victory and by a handsome margin. In saying that, MAS only led 2-1 at 2:50. Lexiel Morales levelled at 5:27 in the second period and Jian Wong and Cheok Low on penalty shifted the momentum. Two more came before PUR replied with a six-metre shot through Luis de Zengotita. Three more MAS goals made it 9-3 by the quarter break. Goals were traded twice with Jun Cheok netting a penalty for 12-5 at 2:17. Tajesh Thanabalan netted a second and Morales buried two in the last 40 seconds for 13-7 at the turn for three goals. Cheok scored twice to start the fourth with two more coming before Yanmanuel Diaz converted extra for 17-8. Samuel Eng finished scoring on counter for his second and 18-8.
Match Heroes
Cheok was the top scorer with three in the 11 shooters to score. Morales netted four from six and Diaz did a double for PUR and the goalkeepers combined for seven saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
MAS made three from six on extra and stopped four from seven. MAS converted six from eight on penalty to PUR’s one. MAS won the steals six-three and the overall shots 56.2-42.1 — 32-19. MAS also scored four on counter to none.
Match 73. MEX 10 URU 3 (2-1, 3-1, 5-1, 0-0)
MEX pushed its claims for 33rd position with a sound result against URU, including an excellent third period that settled the result. MEX shot to 2-1 in the first with two Carlos Nunez strikes to a Santino Decia penalty goal. Leon Varela levelled at 5:10 in the second quarter with Nunez converting extra for 3-2. Nunez scored on action and Matiaz Ramirez did the same with two seconds left for 5-2 at the long break. Nunez and Varela traded in the first minute of the third period with Ramirez pushing MEX out to 7-3. Another pair made it 9-3 and at 1:11, Brandon Gomez shot from the top for 10-3. Both teams missed four shots in the fourth period with Varela fouled out and MEX’s Maximus Ponce missing a penalty attempt in the last second.
Match Heroes
Captain Nunez scored five and the MEX goalkeepers made seven saves. Varela was the sole double scorer for URU.
Stats Don’t Lie
MEX converted three from five on extra and blocked six from seven. MEX missed a penalty shot and URU did not with its one. URU led the steals three to two and the shooting 50 per cent to 23.1.
Day 6 Schedule
Classification 33-36 Round
08:00: MEX v MAS
08:35: PUR v URU
Classification 13-16
10:00: GER v NZL
Classification 29-32 Semifinal
10:05: POR v ZIM
Classification 13-16 Semifinal
11.30: ROU v AUS
Classification 29-32 Semifinal
11:35: RSA v CZE
Classification 9-12 Semifinal
13:00: HUN v MLT
Classification 25-28 Semifinal
13:05: CHN v SLO
Classification 9-12 Semifinal
14:30: GRE v TUR
Classification 25-28 Semifinal
14:35: ISR v UKR
Classification 5-8 Semifinal
16:00: EGY v BRA
Classification 21-24 Semifinal
16:05: KAZ v CAN
Classification 5-8 Semifinal
17:30: ITA v RUS
Classification 21-24
17:35: POL v PER
Classification 1-4 Semifinal
19:00: CRO v SRB
Classification 17-20 Semifinal
19:05: GEO v SGP
Classification 1-4 Semifinal
20:30: ESP v USA
Classification 17-20
20:35: NED v MNE