34th European Water Polo Championships, Budapest (HUN) – Day 1

No hiccups on the opening day

All six favourites claimed multiple-goal wins on the opening day of the women’s tournament at the 34th European Championships in Budapest. Russia managed to score more than 30 goals, this occurred only 5th time in the history of the continental showcase.

7 ESP ESPAR LLAQUET Clara Spain Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena France (white caps) Vs. Spain (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Time Out ESP Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena France (white caps) Vs. Spain (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

10 ISR MONE Mackenzie Israel Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena Netherlands (white caps) Vs. Israel (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Croatia Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena Hungary (white caps) Vs. Croatia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

8 HUN KESZTHELYI-NAGY Rita Hungary Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena Hungary (white caps) Vs. Croatia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

12 XENAKI Eleni GRE Greece Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena GRE – Greece (white caps) Vs. SRB – Serbia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Referee Carlos ORTEGA (ESP) Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena GRE – Greece (white caps) Vs. SRB – Serbia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

3 PANTOVIC Jovana SRB Serbia Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena GRE – Greece (white caps) Vs. SRB – Serbia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

12 SLEEKING Brigitte NED Netherlands Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena NED – Netherlands (white caps) Vs. ISR Israel (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

6 GORBUNOVA Olga RUS Russia Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena SVK – Slovakia (white caps) Vs. RUS – Russia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

1 KISSOVA Emoke GK SVK – Slovakia Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena SVK – Slovakia (white caps) Vs. RUS – Russia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

HENKRICH Milan Slovakia Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena Slovakia (white caps) Vs. Russia (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

BACHELIER Lea FRA, CRESPI BARRIGA Paula ESP Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena FRANCE (white caps) Vs. SPAIN (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

4 ITA AVEGNO Silvia Italy Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena GERMANY (white caps) Vs. ITALY (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

4 GER EGGERT Sophia Germany celebrates after scoring a goal Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena GERMANY (white caps) Vs. ITALY (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

5 ITA QUEIROLO Elisa Italy Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena GERMANY (white caps) Vs. ITALY (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Hungarian Fans Budapest 12/01/2020 Duna Arena HUNGARY (white caps) Vs. CROATIA (blue caps) XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Women’s Round 1
Group A: Slovakia v Russia 2-31, Greece v Serbia 26-7, Hungary v Croatia 25-6
Group B: France v Spain 6-15, Germany v Italy 4-13, Netherlands v Israel 22-3

As expected, the six favourite sides didn’t have any headaches while thrashing their respective opponents on Day 1 in the magnificent Duna Arena. Russia opened the tournament with a 31-2 win over Slovakia, the only new team in the field compared to 2018. After the Dutch set a scoring record of 37 goals back in the very first edition in 1985, it was the Russians who got close two years ago in Barcelona (35) against Turkey. Then the Dutch and the Hungarians also beat the Turks by netting 32 goals respectively in 2018 – now Russia managed to repeat the scoring festival and netted 30+ goals for the fifth time in the history of the Europeans (Slovakia ousted Turkey in the qualifications).

Group A saw two more high-scoring matches as Greece amassed 26 against Serbia while host Hungary stopped at 25 against Croatia.

The title-holder Netherlands enjoyed an easy cruise against Israel in Group B. The more experienced sides, Germany and France, who usually finish behind the top six teams, managed to do some fine defending. Both reached a 9-goal defeat, the French against the 2019 world silver medallist Spanish side, while the Germans against the 2016 Olympic runner-up Italians. These two superpowers’ clash on Monday will be the first highlighted game of the tournament.

For more details, detailed statistics, play-by-play descriptions visit:
http://wp2020budapest.microplustiming.com

Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia