Spain, Russia, and the Netherlands into the quarters of Euro - Funchal

Women U19 national water polo teams of Spain, Hungary, Israel and Russia have all directly qualified for the quarterfinals of LEN European Championship in the Portuguese city of Funchal on the Island of Madeira.

In the A group, Spanish national team dominated in two games, against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Against the Czech Republic, La Furia Roja celebrated a 23:2 triumph and it was almost the same in a duel with Bulgaria – 23:3.

The toughest task was against Italy, but Spain won this dramatical derby 11:10.

Spanish girls controlled the game in the first three quarters, but in the last eight minutes, Italians managed to come back and equalize – 10:10. But then, two and a half minutes before the end, Olga Descalzi scored and it turned out to be a winning goal for Spain.

For Italy, this defeat meant that they will finish second in the group standing and will have to go to the eight finals. As expected, Italians won against Bulgaria (34:1) and Czech Republic (36:2).

As for the B group, Hungarians proved to be the best team and one of the main candidates for the champions title.

They opened the competition with a relatively easy win over Israel (7:3), then they trashed Great Britan – 14:4 and finished with a comfortable victory over Slovakia – 9:4.

Israel and Great Britain fought for the second place in the standings, they drew 5:5 between themselves. But, in the end, Israel won the second place thanks to a better goal difference.

The Netherlands national water polo team left the best overall impression in the first phase of the competition, after winning the first place in the C group with a style. In three games Oranje conceded just five goals!

First, they beat Germany 26:4, then they won against the home team of Portugal 24:1 and finished with an absolute demonstration of power against France – 24:0! And that French team secured the second place, while Germany goes also into the eight finals with a victory over Portugal.

Russian national team won the D group after two big victories against Romania (29:4) and Turkey (31:4), while it was a little tougher in a duel with Greece (11:7).

All eightfinal matches will be played on Wednesday, while quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday.

RESULTS

September 9
Spain – Czech Republic 23:2
Hungary – Israel 7:3
Italy – Bulgaria 34:1
Russia – Romania 29:4
Greece – Turkey 28:4
Netherlands – Germany 26:4
Great Britain – Slovakia 7:6
Portugal – France 7:9

September 10
Romania – Turkey 4:7
Bulgaria – Czech Republic 11:16
Slovakia – Israel 6:8
France – Germany 11:10
Hungary – Great Britain 14:4
Greece – Russia 7:11
Spain – Italy 11:10
Netherlands – Portugal 21:1

September 11
Spain – Bulgaria 23:3
Netherlands – France 24:0
Greece – Romania 20:2
Italy – Czech Republic 36:2
Russia – Turkey 31:5
Hungary – Slovakia 9:4
Great Britain – Israel 5:5
Portugal – Germany 9:16

STANDINGS

Group A
1. Spain 9 pts
2. Italy 6
3. Czech Republic 3
4. Bulgaria 0

Group B
1. Hungary 9
2. Israel 4
3. Great Britain 4
4. Slovakia 0

Group C
1. Netherlands 9
2. France 6
3. Germany 3
4. Portugal 0

Group D
1. Russia 9
2. Greece 6
3. Turkey 3
4. Romania 0

QUARTERFINALS

Italy/Germany – Russia
Israel/Turkey – Netherlands
France/Czech Republic – Hungary
Grecce/Grea Britain – Spain