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swimmersdaily · 5 years ago

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Spain makes back-to-back finals, Hungary goes to Tokyo

Spain and Hungary will stage a final showdown in Budapest after two magnificent semi-finals, which offered nothing less than the very best of water polo. Spain forced the Croats to play a chasing game and their rival couldn’t remain calm till the end, thus the Spaniards can play for the gold once more after Barcelona 2018 (just like their women’s team – and just like a year ago at the World Championships, both Spanish teams made the finals). Hungary joined them after a thrilling match in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,000 in the Duna Arena. Since Spain had already qualified for the Games last year, Hungary also booked its place in Tokyo with this win over Montenegro. It was a first-ever for them against the Montenegrins at the Europeans after four straight losses since 2008.

7 GEO JAKHAIA Khvicha Georgia, 8 GER GIELEN Lucas Germany Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Georgia (white caps) Vs. Germany (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

12 GER EIDNER Dennis Germany Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Georgia (white caps) Vs. Germany (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Germany Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Georgia (white caps) Vs. Germany (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

6 CRO BUKIC Luka Croatia Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Spain (white caps) Vs. Croatia (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

1 ESP LOPEZ PINEDO Daniel Spain Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Spain (white caps) Vs. Croatia (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Spain Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Spain (white caps) Vs. Croatia (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

TUCAK Ivica Coach CRO Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Spain (white caps) Vs. Croatia (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

10 ESP PERRONE ROCHA Felipe Spain Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Spain (white caps) Vs. Croatia (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

10 HUN VARGA Denes Andor Hungary Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Montenegro (white caps) Vs. Hungary (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

10 HUN VARGA Denes Andor Hungary, 9 MNE IVOVIC Aleksandar Montenegro Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Montenegro (white caps) Vs. Hungary (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

5 HUN VAMOS Marton Gyorgy Hungary Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Montenegro (white caps) Vs. Hungary (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

1 HUN NAGY Viktor Hungary, 5 HUN VAMOS Marton Gyorgy Hungary Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena Montenegro (white caps) Vs. Hungary (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

3 NEGREAN Tiberiu ROU Romania Final 11th-12th Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena TUR – Turkey (white caps) Vs. ROU – Romania (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

1 TIC Marius Florin GK ROU Romania 5 BIYIK Berk (C) TUR – Turkey Final 11th-12th Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena TUR – Turkey (white caps) Vs. ROU – Romania (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

2 RADU C. (C) ROU – Romania Final 11th-12th Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena TUR – Turkey (white caps) Vs. ROU – Romania (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Team SRB Serbia Semi-finals 5th -8th SRB – Serbia (white caps) Vs. GRE – Greece (blue caps) Men Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

12 MITROVIC Stefan SRB Serbia Semi-finals 5th -8th SRB – Serbia (white caps) Vs. GRE – Greece (blue caps) Men Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

10 FILIPOVIC Filip (C) SRB Serbia 5 FOUNTOULIS Ioannis (C) GRE Greece Semi-finals 5th -8th SRB – Serbia (white caps) Vs. GRE – Greece (blue caps) Men Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Head Coach MARTIN David ESP Spain Semi-finals ESP – Spain (white caps) Vs. CRO – Croatia (blue caps) Men Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

11 AICARDI Matteo Italy Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena ITALY (white caps) Vs. RUSSIA (blue caps) Men Semifinal 5th/8th place XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

11 LISUNOV Sergey Russia, 10 BODEGAS Michael Alexandre Italy Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena ITALY (white caps) Vs. RUSSIA (blue caps) Men Semifinal 5th/8th place XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

1 DEL LUNGO Marco Italy, 9 BYCHKOV Igor Russia Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena ITALY (white caps) Vs. RUSSIA (blue caps) Men Semifinal 5th/8th place XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

1 LAZOVIC Dejan Montenegro dejection Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena MONTENEGRO (white caps) Vs. HUNGARY (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

GOJKOVIC Vladimir coach of Montenegro time out Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena MONTENEGRO (white caps) Vs. HUNGARY (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

2 BRGULJAN Drasko Montenegro, 9 IVOVIC Aleksandar Montenegro Budapest 24/01/2020 Duna Arena MONTENEGRO (white caps) Vs. HUNGARY (blue caps) Men Semifinal XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Men’s semi-finals: Spain v Croatia 9-8, Montenegro v Hungary 8-10. For places 5-8th: Italy v Russia 14-12, Serbia v Greece 12-9. For places 9-10th: Georgia v Germany 8-9. For places 11-12th: Turkey v Romania 3-20

Fixtures for Sunday Final (19.00): Hungary v Spain. Bronze (17.30): Montenegro v Croatia. For places 5-6th (16.00): Italy v Serbia. For places 7-8th (14.30): Russia v Greece

Spain did it again, reached final in the same ‘rough’ way as at the 2019 World Championships: beat the Serbs in the quarters, then Croatia in the semis. Add, that they also made the final two years ago in Barcelona so they will play their third gold medal match in a row at the majors.

The opening period featured ‘defenses in work’, the goalies did a great job at both ends, only Marko Macan’s shot found the back of the net to give the Croats a 0-1 lead after eight minutes. The offenses geared up in the second, compared to the first period the second offered a flood of seven goals. Spain grabbed the lead twice after 2-2 but the Croats had the answers so it stood 4-4 at halftime.

The third was a mix of misses and great goals, Spain went ahead twice but their rivals managed to equalize again and again. Then the Croats had a man-up but it was denied – so it was all tied (6-6) before the final period. It was somewhat visible though the Spanish enjoyed more comfort as their Olympic berth had already been secured with that world silver 2019, the Croats were too tight in the crucial moments and the vibrant, brilliantly organized Spanish defense didn’t help them to ease up a bit either. Nor the happenings in front of their goal, as Alvaro Granados buried a man-up from the first possession so the Croats were still forced to chase their rivals. Maro Jokovic could finish off a 6 on 5 nicely for 7-7 but 20 seconds later Roger Tahull netted a magnificent goal from the center.

And as the time started running out for the Croats, they got tighter and tighter. Spain missed a man-up to double their lead but David Lopez came up with his save No. 13 in a man-down and with 34 seconds to go Albert Munarriz’s one-timer from the distance sneaked in from Marko Bijac’s hand for 9-7 (VAR confirmed). Though Vukicevic pulled one back but it was too late with 20 seconds remaining on the clock – the fourth period drought of 5:24 minutes for the Croats cost them the match.

Just like in Gwangju, they lost by one goal to Spain, they also lost by one to Serbia in the World League final – and now again, a single goal separated them from making (or keeping the hope of making) the cut for Tokyo. Now they have one last chance in the Olympic Qualification Tournament in March.

Spain’s triumph turned the second semi into a direct qualifier for the Olympics. The Magyars faced a tough challenge as the shadows of the past haunted them a bit: Hungary had never beaten Montenegro at the Europeans (0/4) and two of those losses came in the semi-finals of the two January editions, in Eindhoven and in Belgrade.

As it was expected, a tense battle erupted right at the start, the first goal came after 4:15 minutes, Montenegro then doubled its lead before the hosts could get on the scoreboard after 6:04 minutes but the ‘visitors’ held on for 2-1 after eight minutes. Then Denes Varga began to let his magic fly, after three unsuccessful shots in the first, he sent the ball to the net from 7m with a magnificent back-handed shot that nearly brought the roof down. The Montenegrins kept their cool and retook the lead but soon the Magyar defense began to click and Viktor Nagy’s saves gave the extra fuel the home side needed. By halftime, they were 3-4 ahead and even though a VAR confirmed goal brought the Montenegrins back to even, Tamas Mezei and Gergo Zalanki could finish two-man ups for 4-6. Stefan Pjesivac halved the distance but then Varga converted a penalty and Zalanki’s brilliant bouncing shot from 7m gave a 5-8 lead to the hosts – the goal was one of a kind but Zalanki’s block on the goal-line in the period-ending man-down seemed to be even more important.

Hungary then had a man-up to go +4 but wasted it, and even though Nagy delivered another save in a man down, Bogdan Durdic’s put the next away with a pin-point shot for 6-8 with 4:10 to go. Hungary kept its composure, Marton Vamos blasted in the next 6 on 5 and Nagy posted saves No. 12 and 13 on Ivovic’s shots so the crowd went wild. However, it was not the end as the Montenegrins famous fighting spirit had never ceased and two goals in a span of 73 seconds gave them some hope at 8-9 though only 43 seconds were remaining. Hungary earned an extra 25 seconds from time but Montenegro applied the same tactics invented by the Hungarian women in London 2012, the goalkeeper also marked a field player to prevent free passing in the man-up. It seemed to work as Balazs Erdelyi’s lob on the empty goal was too short, but the Montenegrins long pass was caught by Vamos, he sent it back to Denes Varga who chipped in his fourth goal of the evening to break the Montenegrin curse and to secure Hungary’s place in Tokyo.

Hungary is back to the final after 2014 (once more in Budapest), this is going to be a first meet for the gold against Spain in the history of the Europeans – before they clashed for a title only once, at the World Championships in Perth 1998. Spain won that, next year Hungary claimed the European gold for the last time till date, while Spain’s men look for their first-ever European triumph (and they lost back-to-back finals in the last two years). We are yet to learn which team is the better as they finished 11-11 in the prelims.

The games played for the 5-8th places might influence the qualifications for the 2021 World Championships, and world title-holder Italy and Olympic champion Serbia didn’t let their respective matches go. Italy’s encounter was quite spectacular as the Russians never stopped coming back. They were 2-3- 4 goals down at certain stages of the match but with 2:03 to go they trailed by only one at 13-12 but Alessandro Velotto closed down the game with a man-up goal from the Settebello’s next possession.

Greece could keep up with the Serbs till the middle of the third then the title- holder – missing the top four for only the third time since 1947! – built a three-goal gap and that was enough to secure a consoling victory.

The lower placement matches might have an effect on the invitations for the Olympic Qualification Tournament (only four teams in the top 8 – Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, and Russia have a secured spot, the rest of the field can hope to fill the vacant places left by the other continents). The match for the 9th place was a thrilling one, Georgia led 7-3 in the third and 8-7 in the fourth but the Germans netted two in 47 seconds and that gave them the desired 9th place. And a note on the match played for the 11th place: one of the finest center-forwards of the past decade, Romania’s Cosmin Radu paid farewell to the European Championships on the occasion of their win over Turkey. His good-bye was a fitting one: 3 goals from 3 shots.

For more details, detailed statistics, play-by-play descriptions and video clips of each goal, visit: http://wp2020budapest.microplustiming.com

Press release from LEN, images courtesy of Deepbluemedia

34th European Water Polo Championships, Budapest (HUN) – Day 13 Spain makes back-to-back finals, Hungary goes to Tokyo Spain and Hungary will stage a final showdown in Budapest after two magnificent semi-finals, which offered nothing less than the very best of water polo.

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swimmersdaily · 5 years ago

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Favorites are through, though Georgia almost stunned Russia

All four favorite sides qualified for the quarter-finals. Spain and Montenegro went through without any headache, Greece had to overcome some initial struggles but Russia was pressed till the end by the Georgians and the game almost ended in a shootout.

1 SVK HOFERICA Tomas Slovakia Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena Slovakia (white caps) Vs. Malta (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

1 MLT GRIXTI Nicholas-Kane Malta, 7 SVK TKAC Maros Slovakia Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena Slovakia (white caps) Vs. Malta (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

5 NED VAN IJPEREN Guus Netherlands Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena Netherlands (white caps) Vs. France (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

9 ESP TAHULL COMPTE Roger Spain Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena Germany (white caps) Vs. Spain (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

5 DE TORO DOMINGUEZ Miguel Spain, 11 RESTOVIC Marin Germany Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena Germany (white caps) Vs. Spain (blue caps) men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

13 ESP LORRIO BEJAR Eduardo Spain Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena Germany (white caps) Vs. Spain (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

6 KHARKOV Konstantin GEO – Georgia Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena RUS – Russia (white caps) Vs. GEO – Georgia (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

2 RADU C. (C) ROU – Romania Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena ROU – Romania (white caps) Vs. GRE – Greece (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

8 NISPELING Jesse NED – Netherlands Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena NED – Netherlands (white caps) Vs. FRA – France (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Team FRA – France Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena NED – Netherlands (white caps) Vs. FRA – France (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo ©Pasquale Mesiano / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

4 PETKOVIC Marko Montenegro Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena MONTENEGRO (white caps) Vs. TURKEY (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

9 SONMEZ Nadir Turkey, 7 VIDOVIC Stefan Montenegro Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena MONTENEGRO (white caps) Vs. TURKEY (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

9 BYCHKOV Igor Russia, 5 BITADZE Andria Georgia Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena RUSSIA (white caps) Vs. GEORGIA (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

12 SHEPELEV Roman Russia, 9 RURUA Zurab Georgia Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena RUSSIA (white caps) Vs. GEORGIA (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

12 VLACHOPOULOS Angelos Greece Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena ROMANIA (white caps) Vs. GREECE (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Team Greece celebrate Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena ROMANIA (white caps) Vs. GREECE (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

12 PJESIVAC Stefan Montenegro, 6 GURDENLI Emre Turkey Budapest 20/01/2020 Duna Arena MONTENEGRO (white caps) Vs. TURKEY (blue caps) Men XXXIV LEN European Water Polo Championships 2020 Photo © Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Men’s tournament Quarter-finals qualification: Montenegro v Turkey 17-6, Germany v Spain 6-12, Russia v Georgia 14-13, Romania v Greece 7-14 For places 13-16th: Slovakia v Malta 8-4, Netherlands v France 8-9

Fixtures for Wednesday Quarter-finals: Italy v Montenegro, Serbia v Spain, Hungary v Russia, Croatia v Greece. For places 9-12th: Turkey v Georgia, Germany v Romania. For places 13-14th: Slovakia v France. For places 15-16th: Malta v the Netherlands

There were no hiccups on the first day of the knockout phase, though Georgia was close to upset the Russians who barely avoided becoming part of a penalty shootout. The action-packed first period saw 10 goals, the Russians were a bit better (6-4) then by halftime they seemed to have built a comfortable 9-6 lead. When they went 10-6 up, no one envisioned what might come next. It was Serbian-born leftie Boris Vapenski, who netted two in 75 seconds to give hope for the Georgians and it turned into belief as soon they were trailing by only a single goal at 11-10.

Russia responded well, though, and bounced back for a 14-11 lead in the fourth but the Georgians didn’t let it go. Their foreign legion, Croatian-born Marko Jelaca, Montenegrin Damir Tsrepulia, and Italian Fabio Baraldi all contributed to create a miracle as they came back to 14-13 with 1:27 remaining. And they did have a possession to go even but Jelaca’s shot went wide and the Russians killed the remaining time.

In the following game, Romania tried to achieve something similar against Greece and in the first half, they managed to surprise their rivals by taking a 4-1 lead early in the second period. The first signs of life from the favorites came in a span of 44 seconds, a double by Konstantinos Genidounias, still, the Romanians held on for 5-4 at halftime.

Head coach Theodoros Vlachos made order in the middle break, a different team came back to the pool and they also made order – within 46 seconds they turned the game and by the end of the third they decided it as well with a 6-0 rush in this period. They won the seconds half 2-10 and will meet European and World bronze medallist Croatia in the quarters.

In the first two QFQ matches Montenegro and Spain made it clear right at the beginning that they were not keen to entangle in any dogfight. Montenegro led 8-2 at halftime against the Turks and earned the biggest win of the day, while after a balanced first period Spain netted six in the second, won the middle two quarters 3-9 and switched back to energy-saving mood for the last period. They had a cause to do so as they will replay the 2018 final against title-holder Serbia in the quarter-finals.

In the games for the lower ranks, Slovakia could win its first match here, against Malta, while the Netherlands had to go through more bitter moments as they fell short against France and will play for the 15th place only, though the team had much more potential (hosting Olympic Qualification Tournament saves them a place in that competition – otherwise they would have lost the chance to take part).

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

Press release from LEN, images courtesy of Deepbluemedia

34th European Water Polo Championships, Budapest (HUN) – Day 9 Favorites are through, though Georgia almost stunned Russia All four favorite sides qualified for the quarter-finals. Spain and Montenegro went through without any headache, Greece had to overcome some initial struggles but Russia was pressed till the end by the Georgians and the game almost ended in a shootout.

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