Greece, Hungary advance as Russia and Italy pay the final penalty

Penalties were in the spotlight in the two crucial quarterfinals in the women’s tournament at the European Water Polo Championships in Barcelona. Greece overcame Russia in a shootout and returns to the semis after 2012, while Hungary’s goalie stopped one against Italy in the dying seconds to secure the title-holders’ spot in the SF. Italy didn’t make the top four at the women’s Europeans for the first time in history. 2014 champion Spain and 2016 runner-up Netherlands enjoyed an easy cruising to the semis while beating France and Germany respectively.

1 RATKOVIC Alexandra CRO (Red Cap), 3 BURALI Dilara TUR CRO – TUR Croatia (white caps) vs Turkey (blue caps) Women Barcelona 23/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Final 11th-12th place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

9 DESCHAMPT Yaelle FRA, 12 LEITON Paula ESP FRA – ESP France (white caps) vs Spain (blue caps) Women Barcelona 23/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

11 GARCIA Maica ESP FRA – ESP France (white caps) vs Spain (blue caps) Women Barcelona 23/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

12 FELIX Abigail ISR ISR – SRB Israel (white caps) vs Serbia (blue caps) Women Barcelona 23/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Final 9th-10th place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

1 PERES Ayelet ISR (Red Cap) ISR – SRB Israel (white caps) vs Serbia (blue caps) Women Barcelona 23/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Final 9th-10th place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

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10 KOOLHAAS Ilse NED NED – GER Netherlands (white caps) vs Germany (blue caps) Women Barcelona 23/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

5 LORDAN Dina (C) W CRO CRO – TUR Croatia (white caps) vs. Turkey (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 11th – 12th Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

7 OZGUMUS Zeynep Ece W TUR 4 BALIC Tereza CF CRO CRO – TUR Croatia (white caps) vs. Turkey (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 11th – 12th Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

SRB – Team Serbia ISR – SRB Israel (white caps) vs. Serbia (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 9th – 10th Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

SRB – Team Serbia ISR – SRB Israel (white caps) vs. Serbia (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 9th – 10th Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

1 GORLERO Giulia GK ITA 5 QUEIROLO Elisa (C) W ITA ITA – HUN Italy (white caps) vs. Hungary (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Qarter Finals Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

3 GARIBOTTI Arianna FP ITA ITA – HUN Italy (white caps) vs. Hungary (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Qarter Finals Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

HUN – Team Hungary ITA – HUN Italy (white caps) vs. Hungary (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Qarter Finals Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

ITA – Team Italy ITA – HUN Italy (white caps) vs. Hungary (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Qarter Finals Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

5 SZUCS Gabriella FP HUN ITA – HUN Italy (white caps) vs. Hungary (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Qarter Finals Place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

FRA – SPA Francia (white caps) vs. Spagna (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

3 DIAMANTOPOULOU Vasiliki GRE 6 GORBUNOVA Olga RUS GRE – RUS Greece (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Dejection Team RUSSIA GRE – RUS Greece (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Celebration Victory Greece 4 ELEFTHERIADOU Nikoleta GRE 1 DIAMANTOPOULOU Chrysoula GRE (Red Cap) 6 AVRAMIDOU Alkistis GRE 12 XENAKI Eleni GRE 11 PLEVRITOU Eleftheria GRE GRE – RUS Greece (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

5 SZUCS Gabriella HUN 2 SZILAGYI Dorottya HUN celebration ITA – HUN Italy (white caps) vs. Hungary (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

7 SERZHANTOVA Alena RUS 4 ELEFTHERIADOU Nikoleta GRE 7 ASIMAKI Alexandra GRE GRE – RUS Greece (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Barcelona 23/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

LEN_WP_EC_BCN2018/Deepbluemedia

Apart from Spain’s four-goal win on the opening day against Hungary, the matches of the top six teams were all decided by a single goal in the prelims (if it wasn’t a tie) – and the trend continued in the quarters.

Greece needed 11:06 minutes to get on the scoreboard but once they scored their first – Russia could gain a 0-1 lead in this phase –, they started rolling and deep into the third they were 4-1 up. However, Russia responded the same way, after a drought lasting 14:54 minutes they netted four unanswered goals to take over the lead once more at 5-4, with 3:57 to go. But the Greeks also found their way back, in 55 seconds Nikoleta Eleftheriadou converted a man-up then sent a magnificent lob to the Russian net (this was her third) and led 6-5 with 1:38 from time. Russia went all-in, earned back-to-back 6 on 5s and finally Olga Gorbunova equalised with 27 seconds remaining.

The decision was left to the penalties: the shootout earned the Russians the Olympic berth two years ago, apparently against Greece, and the Olympic bronze against Hungary – but this time the Greeks prevailed. Alena Sherzantova hit the post in the second round, it was the only miss but it meant that the Russians will miss the semis once more after 2016, while the Greeks return to the top flight after 2012.

The next QF was just as thrilling and as hotly contested as any game between Italy and Hungary. It was a match of twists and turns, the results of the quarters show something from the story: 3-1, 1-4, 4-1, 1-4 – but reality was even more exciting. The first big turn came in the second period when Hungary netted three straight goals to go 4-5 up after being 4-2 down and they added a fine action goal from their first possession in the third to lead 4-6. The next twist arrived soon: Italy made the most of their man-ups while Rita Keszthelyi missed a penalty at 7-6 and Arianna Garibotti netted her fourth goal to give Italy an 8-6 lead before the last break.

After a quick exchange of goals Italy was still 9-7 ahead and few would have guessed that they couldn’t score any more in the remaining 5:30 minutes. Dorottya Szilagyi stepped up for the Magyars, her two blasts brought the sides to even with 2:03 to go. The Hungarians killed an Italian man-up, then Rita Keszthelyi showed the best quality of a true leader, leaving behind the demons of the missed penalty she drove herself towards the goal, managed to collect a lengthy ball, and sent it home with an incredible back-handed shot among three defenders, to complete a 0-3 Hungarian rush with 29 seconds remaining.

But there was one more twist in the story: just ten seconds on, Italy earned a penalty. Their best shooter, LEN Award winner Roberta Bianconi took the ball but Edina Gangl guessed the side right in the goal, caught the ball and sent the Magyars into their fourth straight semi-finals. On the contrary, Italy missed the semis for the first time ever in the women’s Europeans since they entered the competition in 1989 (the Hungarians missed the SF only twice).

The other two matches lacked the same tensions, the two group-winners Spain and the Netherlands did a clean job as expected. Only the margin of their wins was in the question against France and Germany, though the hosts were bit too tense and France fought bravely in the opening period, but after 2-2 the Spaniards produced a 5-0 rush in the second to settle the match.

The games for the lower ranks offered some thrills earlier, Croatia beat Turkey for the 11th place while the 9th place was decided by penalties too. Serbia was a bit luckier, buried two shots while Israel could score only once.

European Championships, Day 10
Women’s quarter-finals
Greece v Russia 6-6, penalties: 5-4
Italy v Hungary 9-10
Netherlands v Germany 22-2
France v Spain 5-14

Semi-finals (on 25 July)
17.00 Netherlands v Hungary
18.30 Greece v Spain

For places 9-10th
Israel v Serbia 4-4, penalties: 1-2

For places 11-12th
Croatia v Turkey 11-6

Fixtures, Day 11

Men’s quarter-finals
17.00 Serbia v Hungary
18.30 Croatia v Montenegro
20.30 Italy v Russia
22.00 Spain v Greece

For places 9-12th
13.30 Romania v Netherlands
15.00 Germany v France

For places 13-14th
12.00 Georgia v Slovakia

For places 15-16th
10.30 Turkey v Malta

Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia/Giorgio Scala

The best eight are the same eight from 2016

The same eight made the quarters as in Belgrade 2016: today Hungary, Montenegro, Greece and Russia joined Serbia, Croatia, Spain and Italy, as expected. The Hungarians had to fight hard to oust the Netherlands, Greece and Montenegro offered convincing performances while beating Germany and Romania respectively, and Russia brought down the French.

LEN_WP_EC_BCN2018/Deepbluemedia

3 TSREPULIA Damir GEO, 11 YILMAZ Ali TUR GEO – TUR Georgia (white caps) vs Turkey (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Semifinals 13-16 place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

1 SHUBLADZE Nikoloz GEO (Red Cap) GEO – TUR Georgia (white caps) vs Turkey (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Semifinals 13-16 place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

5 FOUNTOULIS Ioannis (C) GRE GER – GRE Germany (white caps) vs. Greece (blue caps) Men Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

5 FOUNTOULIS Ioannis GRE GER – GRE Germany (white caps) vs Greece (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

5 KHASZ Enzo CF FRA FRA – RUS France (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Men Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

3 OLIVON Mathias AR FRA FRA – RUS France (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Men Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

6 VERNOUX Thomas FP FRA 5 KOPTSEV Ivan DF RUS FRA – RUS France (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Men Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

1 WAGENAAR Eelco GK NED HUN – NED Hungary (white caps) vs. Netherlands (blue caps) Men Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

12 POHL Zoltan DF HUN HUN – NED Hungary (white caps) vs. Netherlands (blue caps) Men Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

12 LUCAS Thomas CF NED 4 ZALANKI Gergo FP HUN HUN – NED Hungary (white caps) vs. Netherlands (blue caps) Men Quarter Finals Qualification 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Team Greece GER – GRE Germany (white caps) vs. Greece (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Time Out GREECE GER – GRE Germany (white caps) vs. Greece (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

2 REIBEL Ben GER 2 GENIDOUNIAS Konstantinos GRE GER – GRE Germany (white caps) vs. Greece (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

4 ZALANKI Gergo HUN 10 JANSSEN Pascal NED HUN – NED Hungary (white caps) vs. Netherlands (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

7 CAMILLERI Steven MLT 3 ZATOVIC Juraj SVK MAL – SVK Malta (white caps) vs. Slovakia (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Semifinals 13-16 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

8 CAMILLERI Jordan MLT 7 TKAC Maros SVK MAL – SVK Malta (white caps) vs. Slovakia (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Semifinals 13-16 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

7 CAMILLERI Steven MLT MAL – SVK Malta (white caps) vs. Slovakia (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Semifinals 13-16 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

2 BRGULJAN Drasko MNE 3 NEGREAN Tiberiu ROU MNE – ROU Montenegro (white caps) vs. Romania (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

2 BRGULJAN Drasko MNE 9 GERGELYFI Robert ROU MNE – ROU Montenegro (white caps) vs. Romania (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

3 NEGREAN Tiberiu ROU 5 RADOVIC Duro MNE MNE – ROU Montenegro (white caps) vs. Romania (blue caps) Barcelona 22/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Men Quarter Finals 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Hungary overcame some difficulties before downing the Netherlands with an 8-minute rush in the middle two periods. With 5:54 to go in the second, the Dutch were 5-6 up as they scored some amazing and some lucky goals – then the Magyars showed something from their real skills at both ends of the pool and with 5:23 to go in the third they led 11-6. Their lefties, who had struggled in the prelims, Marton Vamos (4 goals) and Gergo Zalanki (3) led the charge and the 6-0 rolling did the damage to their rivals. The Dutch fought on, though, and after a scoreless period of 12:13 minutes could find the back of the net again, came back to three goals at 12-9, had two more man-ups in the last two minutes but missed both and had to bow to the favourite side. The next one is going to be another classic, a quarter-final showdown with Serbia.

Germany also had a flying start, scored from its first two possessions only to see the Greeks striking back firmly, with three goals in 96 seconds. Two more came still in the first period in 1:59 minutes but for the Germans it was an even bigger blow that they lost their key player, the team’s top scorer Julian Real with the third major leading to a penalty. Though Georgios Dervisis missed it but it didn’t matter that much in view of the second period which saw three Greek goals and none from the Germans. This 1-8 rush after 2-0 was enough to settle the match by halftime, the Greeks kept their rivals in safe distance and comfortably marched to the quarters where they’ll meet host Spain for a late night show in two days time.

Montenegro also did a clean job against Romania. They staged a strong start and even though the Romanians climbed back to 3-2 after 3-0, soon they were left behind. The World League winners netted five unanswered goals to lead 8-2 while did some tremendous defending and shut out their opponents for 9:09 minutes. That killed the excitements for the rest of the game and it ended in a 10-goal triumph for the Montenegrins who now face arch-rival Croatia.

Russia had a dream start netting three in 114 seconds which floored the French. They could never recover from this, while the Russians were recalling their heydays as they offered some sparkling display in offence. They led 8-2 by halftime and even though they didn’t push so hard in the following periods and the French showed some signs of life – scored four in the third – but couldn’t get inside three goals as the Russians always had the answers.

Thus an interesting scenario has been set up: in the upper half of the draw there are the three former Yugoslavian countries, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro plus the Hungarians, while in the lower half is the Mediterranean area with Italy, Spain and Greece, with Russia as a special guest.

In the games for the bottom places the favoured sides claimed easy wins, Georgia beat Turkey, while Slovakia pushed aside Malta.

European Championships, Day 9

Men’s quarter-finals
Hungary v Netherlands 12-9
Germany v Greece 5-13
Montenegro v Romania 15-5
France v Russia 9-12

For places 13-16th
Georgia v Turkey 15-10
Malta v Slovakia 6-12

Schedule for quarter-finals, 24 July (Revised)
17.00 Serbia v Hungary
18.30 Croatia v Montenegro
20.30 Italy v Russia
22.00 Spain v Greece

Fixtures, Day 10

Women’s quarter-finals
17.00 Greece v Russia
18.30 Italy v Hungary
20.30 Netherlands v Germany
22.00 France v Spain

For places 9-10th
15.00 Israel v Serbia

For places 11-12th
13.30 Croatia v Turkey

Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia/Giorgio Scala