Spain gained first right to the world 4x4 champion title in a thrilling gold-medal final over Russia, requiring penalty shootout for the 3-2 margin. Croatia beat Serbia 3-0 in a low-scoring encounter.
Final Placings
1.Spain
2. Russia
3. Croatia
4. Serbia
5. Georgia
6. United States of America
7. Montenegro
8. Bulgaria
9. Malta
10. Australia
11. Japan
12. Hong Kong China I
13. Lithuania
14. Hong Kong China II
15. Saudi Arabia
16. Mongolia
Awards
Most Valuable Player
Roko Pelicaric (CRO)
Best Goalkeeper
Didac Garcia (ESP)
Media All Star Team
Goalkeeper
Didac Garcia (ESP)
Field Players
Roko Pelicaric (CRO)
Roberto Valera (ESP)
Roman Shepelev (RUS)
Overview
It took a 3-1 penalty shootout for Spain to get the better of Russia in the gold-medal final as the sets were traded. Roberto Valera was in exceptional form with seven goals as Spain had just three scorers to Russia’s six.
In the bronze-medal match, Croatia made it look easy, but it was not, in a 3-0 victory with the periods 3-2, 3-1 and 4-2.
Georgia needed a sudden-death penalty shootout to fend off United States of America who were again without their talisman Max Irving, It went to 6-5 with Georgia erupting on to the international scene in fine fashion.
Montenegro was pressed by Bulgaria before claiming seventh position 3-1 with a 7-5 deciding set.
Match Reports
Classification 1-2
Match 56, RUSSIA 2 SPAIN 3 (2-1, 3-4, 3-2, 4-5. Pens: 1-3)
After some mouth-watering water polo in the previous three encounters, this was promising much. Spain was beatable, as shown by the shootout loss to Serbia on day four. Russia was beaten by Montenegro in a shootout and survived a first-day shootout against USA. Albert Sabadell lit up the night-time pool on extra at 4:00 and Stepan Barabushka replied at 2:28. The score held until the buzzer, sending it to golden goal, Ivan Vasilev netting off a five-metre shot soon after Sabadell had his effort saved. Max Casabella and Roberto Valera gave Spain the impetus in the second set with Roman Usov responding on extra. Valera and Edgar Estevez boosted the margin to two before Roman Shepelev and Daniil Pronin equalised at 0:19. Spain gained the bons penalty shot at 0:11 and Casabella made sure of scoring for the 4-3 set. Vasilev and Shepelev had Russia 2-0 up until 1:22 when Valera converted extra. Usov scored from centre for 3-1 and Valera pulled one back. Pronin grabbed what was the winner at 0:05 as Casabella’s bonus penalty shot was saved in the last five seconds. Russia was two sets up to one. Vasilev and Konstantin Sheikin on extra made it 2-0 until Valera covered extra for 2-1 at 3:32. Barabushka and Valera traded by 2:57. Valera equalised at 2:17 and Sabadell put away a penalty shot at 2:11. Pronin, on extra, levelled at four. Sabadell converted the bonus penalty shot for 5-4 at 1:09. Russia had one shot saved and the match went to penalties. Casabella scored and Vasilev hit the wood. Sabadell, Sheikin and finally Valera scored for a historic Spanish victory.
Match Heroes
Valera was indomitable with seven goals and Sabadell boosted Spain’s numbers with three. Didac Garcia made a gold-medal-winning nine saves in goal. Vasilev scored a hat-trick for Russia and Petr Fedotov dragged down six ball in goal.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain was perfect at seven extra-man goals and Russia excellent with four from five. Spain converted the only penalty foul and led the shots 29-28.
Classification 3-4
Match 55, CROATIA 3 SERBIA 0 (3-2, 3-1, 4-2)
Croatia went through two penalty shootout matches in the previous two days, so decided to go through easily for the bronze. It was a sixth victory, but still ruing that 3-2 loss to Russia on Saturday. Serbia had a shootout loss to Georgia and a shootout win over Spain before losing to Spain in the semifinals. Ivan Vukojevic and Aleksandar Kovacevic traded extra plays. Captain Filip Krzic scored the bonus penalty goal for Croatia as early as 3:38. Filip Coric countered to level at 2-2 and Nardo Dragas sent in a penalty goal at 2:00 for 3-2. Tournament most valuable player Roko Pelicaric had his penalty attempt saved in the last second but the set was already won. Hrvoje Zvono and Pelicaric on extra had the set at second 2-0 by 3:16. Vukojevic scored off a five-metre play at 1:16 and at 0:21 Petar Jovic finished extra and 3-1 at 0:21. In the third set, Vukojevic and Toni Busic scored before Kovacevic made the board on extra. Vukojevic and Pelicaric shunted the difference to three and the last say went to Aleksa Petrovski from in front when the match was virtually over.
Match Heroes
Vukojevic was best in pool with four goals for Croatia and Serbian Kovacevic netted twice.
Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia buried four from five on extra and Serbia three from four. Croatia missed two of three penalty attempts and Serbia scored one. The shots went 24-23 to Croatia.
Classification 5-6
Match 54, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 GEORGIA 3 in sudden-death penalty shootout. (2-3, 1-2, 4-3, 2-1. Pens: 5-6)
Georgia triumphed in its third penalty-shootout win in Dubrovnik, needing six goals to get past the stubborn North Americans after an incredible three golden-goal periods. The quarters were all one-goalers and sudden death meant it was the same on penalties. The first goal came at 2:21 via Davit Kikaleishvili and at 0:51 Stefan Vavic, also shot from centre for 1-1. Giorgi Meskhi scored at 0:21 with Marko Vavic converting penalty at 0:14, forcing the match to golden goal. It was an extended period with the winner coming on the fifth shot and after Marco Vavic hit the post on the bonus penalty shot. Saba Matchavariani took a five-metre shot to deal the set. Goals were swapped early in the second set with the winner coming via Luka Giorgadze on the first exclusion in golden goal. Marko Vavic and AJ Rossman, on extra, gave USA the edge in the third set. Meskhi replied and JP Ohl made it 3-1 on extra. Giorgadze fired in a five-metre missile for 3-2 at 1:35 and Maksim Malyshau equalised at 0:52. Marko Vavic brought up the winner a second from the buzzer. Rossman started the fourth-set scoring at 2:48 on extra. Giorgadze equalised at 0:39, requiring a third golden-goal decider. Rossman provided the winner from five metres for 2-1 and a chance to win on penalties. They went through the rotation successfully and arrived at 6-5 in Georgia’s favour. Then Rossman had his attempt saved to hand the match to Georgia.
Match Heroes
Giorgadze led his team with three goals and Georgian captain Beka Kapanadze made 11 saves. Marko Vavic and Rossman netted a triple each for USA. Chris Whitelegge took in 10 balls from goal.
Stats Don’t Lie
Georgia converted two from three and blocked four from eight on extra. USA grabbed the only penalty goal and took the shots 38-35.
Classification 7-8
Match 53, MONTENEGRO 3 BULGARIA 1 (2-1, 3-7, 7-2, 7-5)
Montenegro earned its fourth win of the week but had to work against a plucky Bulgaria, which was also looking for a fourth win. Danilo Radovic and Vuk Radovic started with two goals for Montenegro before Veselin Ganchev converted a penalty for 2-1 at 0:32. Captain Pavel Pelov began the second set on counter for Bulgaria and Aleksandar Velkov followed up. Danilo Radovic responded from five metres. Vladimir Dimitrov scored on extra and counter for 4-1. Georgi Pangovski drilled from five metres and then on extra as the score blew out to 6-1. Danilo Radovic responded on extra but Pelov countered as the last minute arrived and it remained at that until the buzzer. The tables were turned in the third set as Montenegro won 7-2 with Danilo Radovic netting three and Matija Matijasevic and Miljan Boskovic two each. Velkov scored both Bulgarian goals. In the fourth, it was much closer. Danilo Radovic and Boskovic scored twice each and Vuk Radovic took it to 5-0 at 2:04. Vladimir Stankov on action and Boskovic on bonus penalty elevated the score to 5-1. Pelov and Boskovic countered; Stankov sent in a goal on penalty for 6-3 at 1:09; Ganchev and Danilo Radovic swapped goals and Pelov countered at 0:11 for 7-5 and a four-set win to Montenegro.
Match Heroes
Danilo Radovic with a stunning 10 goals and Boskovic five for Montenegro. Captain Pelov and Velkov scored three each while goalkeeper Mladen Dimitrov took in nine saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
Montenegro covered all three extra chances and stopped two of Bulgaria’s five. Montenegro also slotted both penalty attempts, as well as Bulgaria. The shots were 37-33 to Bulgaria.
Classification 9-10
Match 52, AUSTRALIA 0 MALTA 3 (3-5, 3-5, 3-7)
Malta beat Australia 3-2 in a penalty shootout on day one but Malta has blossomed at this event and made huge strides, ripping through the Aussies, especially in the final set. Australia was 2-1 ahead in the first set but was quickly subsumed as Alec Fenech twice and Stevie Camilleri on penalty had the Maltese 3-2 up. Liam Galea and Julian Valletta — who completed the team’s top four — made it 5-3 at 1:11. Malta had a penalty shot saved in the dying seconds. Malta led the way in the second set and was 3-1 ahead with Koby Gilchrist responding on extra. Malta scored twice around the final minute for another 5-3 period. Malta was drubbing Australia at 5-0 in the third before Mitch Robinson addressed the slide. Malta went to 6-1 and Joey Gallagher and Patrick Dart scored with Galea closing the match at 7-3 and 3-0.
Match Heroes
Camilleri and Fenech amassed four each with Galea gaining three. Jake Tanti stopped eight shots form goal. Gilchrist made four goals for the Aussies and goalie Tian Markart stopped seven shots.
Stats Don’t Lie
Both teams scored two from three on extra; Malta converted three from six on penalty to Australia’s none from one; Malta made 32-25 on the shots.
Classification 11-12
Match 51, HONG KONG CHINA I 2 JAPAN 3 in penalty shootout (3-2, 3-4, 3-5, 4-3. Pens: 1-2)
Japan ended up with the obligatory win over Mongolia and now a victory over one Hong team as the first was a penalty shootout loss. Today’s win came the hard way, also through penalties. Japan won the middle of the match while Hong Kong was superior in the first and fourth. The first period was level at two by the two-minute mark, level at three by the one-minute marker with the winner coming from Shotaro Yamada at 0:32. Hong Kong was 2-1 up early in the second set and level at two thanks to Yuya Nakayama on the bonus penalty shot. Hei Man Cheng and Yamada traded goals for 4-3 Japan’s way at the buzzer. In the third period, Tsz Zhang and Hei Man Cheng scored quick goals and Atsushi Arai pulled one back. Shinju Tobari replied on extra. Japan’s Arai converted the bonus penalty shot at 1:22 and 17 seconds later another on action. Arai scored the last with a second left on the clock for 5-3. Hong Kong began the scoring in the fourth but Yamada and Tobari made it 2-1. Tsz Ching equalised on penalty and at 2:09, Tobari netted another. Gilman Choi converted extra at 1:18 for the 3-3 score, which ended the period. It went to golden goal and Choi came up with the goods for a Hong Kong 4-3 set, sending the match to penalties. Hong Kong had its first and third shots saved while Japan needed just two successful shots for the 2-1 victory and 3-2 overall.
Match Heroes
Captain Arai scored five; Yamada and Tobari four each for Japan. Ching scored five and Choi four for the Hong Kong team.
Stats Don’t Lie
Japan converted five from eight on extra and Hong Kong six from eight. Japan missed both penalty attempts and Hong Kong made sure of three from four. Hong Kong won the shots 31-30. It won all the stats but not the match.
Classification 13-14
Match 50, LITHUANIA 3 HONG KONG CHINA II 0 (6-2, 6-1, 6-4)
Lithuania picked up a third win here and 13th position with three balanced periods. Lithuania was four up before Leong Chan responded on the bonus penalty goal. Captain Jan Bakulo scored his second for 5-1. Ernestas Pumputis scored on extra for 6-2, 27 seconds from the buzzer. Likewise in the second set, Lithuania was 5-0 ahead before Cheuk Hei Cheung scored not long after he squandered the bonus penalty shot. Pumputis converted extra in the last second for the 6-1 margin. In the third set, Bakulo had the first two goals safely tucked away before Jason Ho replied on penalty. And Shing Yuen took a five-metre shot for the leveller. Bakulo netted the third, and at 4-2, banged in a double goal from very deep in the corner for the length of the pool for 6-2 with four seconds remaining. Ho did the same shot after retrieving the ball from the goal and scoring with a rocket on the buzzer for 6-4, too late to force any more sets.
Match Heroes
Captain Bakulo rifled home eight goals and Aurimas Jonkus three for Lithuania. Ho made three for Hong Kong.
Stats Don’t Lie
The Europeans hit two from three on extra to none from two. On penalties, Lithuania made two from three and Hong Kong one from four. With the shots, Lithuania finished 27 to 24.
Classification 15-16
Match 49, MONGOLIA 0 SAUDI ARABIA 3 (0-8, 0-8, 1-9)
Saudi Arabia made sure Mongolia was winless for the week and that it could go home with one win in the sports bag. The Saudis did it by stopping all three quarters on the mercy rule, but not by much. Mongolia slipped one through but it needs to go home, learning lessons from here to make sure it can improve before it enters the world stage proper in junior events, if possible. As with all teams here, it is a steep learning curve and even seasoned internationals have found the conditions tough.
Match Heroes
Hamzah Alturaiki scored seven goals; Abbas Aljazzar six; Malak Shrahily four and Bandar Alshaikhi three.
Stats Don’t Lie
Saudi Arabia scored two from four on extra, two from four on penalty and outshot Mongolia 33 to five.