Day 9: Greece retains FINA World Men's Junior Water Polo title
Greece beat Serbia 6-4 for the gold medal on the final day of the FINA World Men’s Junior Water Polo Championships at the Al-Nasar Sport Club Kuwait.
Greece led 2-0 at the quarter and 3-1 at halftime with the third period scoreless. An action-packed final period had Greece 5-2 ahead and then 5-4 before Konstantinos Kakaris put the match beyond doubt two minutes from time. Goalkeeper Nikolaos Mitrakis, who was named the best of the tournament, repulsed many Serbian attacks to get his team over the line.
Greek captain Alexandros Papanastasiou, who won his second title, said after the ceremony: "It was indescribable going back to back. It was hard work, not luck. The team proved that if it could do it once, it could do it again. I wish to thank my team, my coaches for making this possible."
It was the third title for Greece, having won in Istanbul, Turkey in 2001.
Italy beat Croatia 9-6 for the bronze medal in a sour clash where two Croatian officals and two Croatian players were red-carded. Centre forward Ettore Novara was named best in water with four goals and was named best centre forward in the Media All Star team (below).
Spain secured fifth place with a 14-8 victory over Montenegro, Bernat Sanahuja — another All Star — claiming the match player award with his five goals.
In the first match of the day, United States of America managed to keep Japan at bay 19-14 for seventh position in an exciting scoring encounter with Marko Vavic netting five for the USA and Yusuke Inaba six for Japan, closing his scoring tally in Kuwait at an amazing 36. For this effort and his ability to keep his team in the competition until the final day, he was awarded the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.
Footnote: Iran and Kuwait have been disqualified from the tournament after their encounter on Thursday was abandoned in the third period for "illegal entering of substitute players into the field of play". They will not figure in the final placings.
Awards:
Most Valuable Player
Yusuke Inaba (JPN)
Best Goalkeeper
Nikolaos Mitrakis (GRE)
Player of the gold-medal final
Ioannis Alafragkis (GRE)
Media All Star Team:
Goalkeeper: Nikolaos Mitrakis (GRE). Centre Forward: Ettore Novara (ITA). Field Players: Yusuke Enaba (JPN), Konstaninos Gkiouvetsis (GRE), Alexandros Papanastasiou (GRE), Bernat Sanahuja (ESP), Dorde Vucinic (SRB).
Top goalkeeper Nikolaos Mitrakis (GRE)
Friday Schedule:
Classification 7-8
Match 69, 13:30, JAPAN 14 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 19
Classification 5-6
Match 70, 15:00, MONTENEGRO 8 SPAIN 14
Classification 3-4
Match 71, 16:30, ITALY 9 CROATIA 6
Classification 1-2
Match 72, 18:00, SERBIA 4 GREECE 6
Final Placings:
1. Greece
2. Serbia
3. Italy
4. Croatia
5. Spain
6. Montenegro
7. United States of America
8. Japan
9. Hungary
10. Canada
11. Australia
12. New Zealand
13. Russia
14. South Africa
15. Egypt
16. China
17. Brazil
18. Uzbekistan
Match reports
Match 69, 13:30, JAPAN 14 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 19
Classification 7-8
Quarters: 4-6, 5-2, 3-5, 2-6
Referees: Vlaho Radichevic (CRO), Liang Zhang (CHN)
Extra man: JPN: 4/7. USA: 9/10.
Penalties: JPN: 1/1.
Teams:
JAPAN: Tomoharu Shinto, Toi Suzuki (2), Shun Kobayashi (1), Shohei Yamada, Fumiya Tsuta (2), Naoki Aoyama, Goro Hizume, Eisuke Takahashi, Takumu Miyazawa, Yusuke Inaba (6), Yuki Maita (2), Taiyo Watanabe (1), Kentaro Tani. Head Coach: Takamitsu Nakashima.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Adrian Weinberg, Quinten Osborne, Marko Vavic (5), Tommy Gruwell (2), Leo Yuno (1), Garrett Zaan (2), Hannes Daube (3), Jacob Ehrhardt (1), Mason McQuet, Ash Molthen (4), Quinn Woodhead, Warren Loth (1), Kent Emden. Head Coach: Jack Kocur.
United States of America went one better than two years ago, taking out seventh position in a breath-taking, high-scoring match. There was action aplenty in the first half with USA levelling at one and two then pushing the margin to 6-3 before Japan grabbed one back in the last second of the period. USA did the damage at two metres, the centre forwards too strong for the smaller Japanese. Tommy Gruwell scored his second extra-man goal for 7-4 and USA looked like going away. Not so; Japan scored three of the next four goals to level at seven and, guess who had three of those goals? Senior international Yusuke Inaba, of course. USA took a break and converted the play to regain the lead. There were no early celebrations as Inaba netted twice in a row to close the half at 9-8 in Japan’s favour. USA regained the advantage at 10-9, 11-10 and 12-11, before stretching it to 13-11, only for Inaba to gain his sixth goal — and 36th of the championship — on a penalty conversion 11 seconds from the final break. Garrett Zaan with his second, Ash Molthen with his fourth and Hannes Daube with his fourth took it out to 16-12 three minutes into the final quarter. Goals were traded between Shun Kobayashi and Vavic while Vavic repeated the dose for 18-13 at 1:37 off a swift free-throw cross pass. Japan was not finished yet and Tsuta drilled from the left-hand-catch position, however, Vavic nailed his fifth with a high shot from four metres, winning the contest and the player-of-the-match award. To USA's credit was the fantastic extra-man statistic of nine from 10 — the best of the championship. The win was some minor consolation for two soul-destroying penalty shootout losses. In USA college water polo, no shootouts are played, but instead the old system of extra time, so the players are not used to this critical situation. Japan, by finishing eighth, was five places better than Belgrade 2017.
Photos: Eszter Novak
Match 70, 15:00, MONTENEGRO 8 SPAIN 14
Classification 5-6
Quarters: 3-5, 1-5, 1-3, 3-1
Referees: German Moller (ARG), Luca Bianco (ITA)
Extra man: MNE: 2/4. ESP: 6/11.
Penalties: ESP: 1/1.
Teams:
MONTENEGRO: Darko Durovic, Nebojsa Vuskovic (1), Savo Cetkovic (1), Uros Vucurovic (1), Aljosa Macic, Danilo Radovic (2), Luka Murisic, Petar Mijuskovic (2), Miroslav Perkovic, Vuk Draskovic, Dusan Matkovic, Branko Franeta (1), Alen Isljamovic. Head Coach: Veljko Uskokovic.
SPAIN: Unai Aguirre, Bernat Sanahuja (5), Albert Ponferrada, Sergio Prieto, Pau Linares, Fran Valera (4), Lluc Bertran, Victor Alegre (1), Oscar Montes, Nikolas Paul (3), Oriol Rodriguez, Oscar Asensio (1), Victor Garcia. Head Coach: Svilen Ivanov.
Spain moved up one position to fifth from two years ago, demoralising Montenegro, who seemed lacklustre today. Spain has been using excellent teamwork all tournament, not requiring one person to carry the heavier workload. That teamwork has carried the team through, except for that one-goal loss to Croatia in the quarter-finals. Today, if anyone led the charge, it was Fran Valera with three goals in the first quarter and another in the third. Bernat Sanahuja, such a revelation, scored four goals all around the pool, including at centre forward. Montenegro head coach Veljko Uskokovic asked for something extra from his team at the final break and his team responded with two goals from Petar Mijuskovic — another star player in Kuwait — and Nebojsa Vuskovic with three seconds left on the clock. Dusan Matkovic (MNE) was fouled out in the final quarter on his return after a two-match suspension for a brutality foul against Hungary on Tuesday. Montenegro was fifth two years ago and sixth in 2015. Spain’s Victor Alegre was red-carded in the first period for splashing an opponent after Spain had just converted the penalty goal.
Photos: Eszter Novak
Match 71, 16:30, ITALY 9 CROATIA 6
Classification 3-4
Quarters: 1-1, 2-2, 3-1, 3-2
Referees: Irfan Sadekov (RUS), Nikolaos Boudramis
(GRE)
Extra man: ITA: 4/20. CRO: 2/16.
Penalties: ITA: 2/3. CRO: 0/2.
Teams:
ITALY: Francisco di Donna, Massimo di Martire (1), Filippo Ferrero, Mattia Antonucci, Andrea Narciso (1), Gianpiero di Martire, Mario Guidi (1), Ettore Novara (3), Michele Mezzarobba (3), Vincenzo Tozzi, Matteo Spione, Andrea Tartaro, Francesco de Michelis. Head Coach: Carlo Silipo.
CROATIA: Jerko Jurlina, Ivan Malenica, Karlo Krekovic (1), Marin Vrdoljak (1), Luka Bajic (1), Filip Krzic, Goran Solje (1), Branimir Herceg, Jerko Penava (2), Matias Biljaka, Marko Zuvela, Lovro Paparic, Eugen Sunara. Head Coach: Josko Krekovic.
This was a match of attrition and emotion that overflowed big time with Croatia struggling to handle the pressure, leading to the loss. Two bench officials and three Croatian players failed to see the match out with red cards and three others gained three majors. Three Italian players also failed to get to the final whistle. Lack of discipline killed the match for Croatia while Italy came to win via the normal course. One of the Croatian bench officials charged up the referee walkway and started “talking” to referee Sadekov, earning a red card at 1:38 in the second period. He was sent to the grandstand. At 1:58 in the third quarter, the other bench official was red-carded. That meant that Mile Smodlaka and Ivan Rukavina were out of the match. The bench troubles transferred to the water where Matias Biljaka was ejected at 0:19 and did not leave the pool, causing a penalty foul. He pleaded to the referee that he did not see the number call and was suspended. Earlier in the match big centre forward Branimir Herceg gained three major fouls. Krekovic gained his second and third at in the third quarter, robbing the team of a goal-scorer. Italy also had foul trouble with Massimo de Martire, Italy’s 2-1 scorer, Andrea Tartaro and Gianpiero de Martire in the fourth also registered three fouls. With plenty of attention on the players’ bodies, this was probably the heaviest match of the tournament. Jerko Penava had a chance to open for Croatia, but the normally reliable penalty shooter missed his first attempt two minutes into the match and failed to convert his second in the next period. Croatia’s 1-1 equaliser came via a hopeful shot from eight metres on the stroke of quarter time from Karlo Krekovic. It deflected off the defender’s arm and into goal when Francesco de Michelis had it covered. Italy went to 2-1 with Croatia recovering for 3-2 and Italy equalising through captain Mario Guidi. Novara missed his penalty attempt after the official fiasco leaving the match even at halftime. Two Novara goals nullified Croatia’s 4-3 lead and the Croatian coach saw yellow and the bench official red. Michele Mezzarobba sent in the penalty goal for 6-4 at the final break. Luka Bajic pulled one back from six metres; Andrea Narciso sent in a slider from seven metres; Penava converted extra from deep left for 7-6 at 2:04. Italy called a timeout at 1:46 and Novara nailed the goal on double extra for 8-6. Mezzarobba converted the penalty foul after Marko Zuvela gained his red card. No further goal came in the last 49 seconds and Italy had the bronze medal. European champion Italy collected another bronze to give it five gold, two silvers and three bronze medals at this level. Italy was seventh in Belgrade two years ago and Croatia was the beaten finalist.
Photos: Eszter Novak
Match 72, 18:00, SERBIA 4 GREECE 6
Classification 1-2
Quarters: 0-2, 1-1, 0-0, 3-3
Referees: Michiel Zwart (NED), David Gomez (ESP)
Extra man: SRB: 3/14. GRE: 2/8.
Penalties: SRB: GRE: 1/1.
Teams:
SERBIA: Pavle Gavrilovic, Stefan Brankovic (1), Andrej Barac, Aleksa Nesic, Nemanja Stanojevic (1), Petar Mitrovic, Dorde Vucinic, Aleksa Cvetkovic (1), Vasilije Martinovic, Kristian Sulc, Luka Pijevancic, Marko Radovic (1), Vladimir Misovic. Head Coach: Uros Stevanovic.
GREECE: Stylianos Dalmaras, Efstathios Kalogeropoulos, Ioannis Alafragkis (2), Konstaninos Gkiouvetsis (2), Dimitrios Nikolaidis (1), Alexandros Papanastasiou, Konstantinos Kakaris (1), Charalampos Rompopoulos, Efstathios Papageorgiou, Michail Diplaros, Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos, Michail Goniotakis, Nikolaos Mitrakis. Head Coach: Nikolaos Karamanis.
Greece became a three-time champion and a back-to-back champion with a thrilling 6-4 victory over a determined, although a little nervous, Serbia. Greece was the better team all tournament and deserved the crown as probably the best-prepared team. Tensions were above boiling point early in the match with the referee having to call the two 5 caps to the side of the pool for a chat after an altercation. Semifinal sensation Konstaninos Gkiouvetsis opened the scoring from the penalty line and had his best start with a rocket from nine metres late in the first quarter and a two-metre rebound collection for a shovel into goal at 2:33 in the second period had Greece at 3-0. Marko Radovic finally put Serbia on the board at 1:18 from halftime on extra-man attack. The third period was scoreless with both teams having some fantastic attempts. At the Greek end, it was left many times to the tournament’s best goalkeeper, Nikolaos Mitrakis, to save the day. On one Serbian attack we blocked three successive shots. Greece missed some easier shots with a Gkiouvetsis counter-attack bounced into the bar when it was expected he would score. Charalampos Rompopoulos collected his third major and Aleksa Cvetkovic converted the near-post shot for 3-2 at 6:57. At the other end Gkiouvetsis produced some magic, rising high at the top and lobbing into the top right for 4-2. Dimitrios Nikolaidis joined the party with a superb turn at two metres to hammer the ball into goal for a three-goal margin at 4:18. The next attack and Serbia converted extra-man with a Nemanja Stanojevic missile from the top to narrow the gap. Stefan Brankovic shot on the next attack from about six metres on the right side of the pool before the defence had formed to bring it to 5-4. Greece called a timeout on extra on its attack and three passes after the restart the ball connected with the hand of Konstantinos Kakaris on the right, near post to score for 6-4. Kristian Sulc shot on extra and the ball struck the right upright and bounced behind Mitrakis, but it did not appear to go in and this was confirmed by the VAR decision. Greece used its attack and Serbia called a timeout at nine seconds. The resulting Serbia shot hit the left upright and Greece was champion again.
Photos: Eszter Novak