Unpredictable prospects as Men’s U18 European Water Polo Championships return in Oradea and Rio Maior

A total of 29 national teams are starting their respective quests today at the Men’s U18 European Water Polo Championships – which are back after an absence of 18 years. The elite are playing in Oradea, Romania, while the Division One tournament is being staged at the Portuguese venue of Rio Maior.

Fulfilling the participating federations’ demands to ensure that all age-groups enjoy similar competition opportunities, World Aquatics and European Aquatics agreed to apply unified categories for their respective tournaments.

From this year, all events are being held in the U16, U18 and U20 age-groups annually (World and European events vary in a pre-determined rotation). That has brought back the U18 category for the Europeans too, which had been the case from 1983 till 2007, when there was a switch to U17 and U19.

It is an indication of the development within water polo that there is room for two championships running in parallel, thanks to the high number of entries. As in the U16 age-group, European Aquatics has embraced the idea of offering playing opportunities for all nations in the frame of a championships, instead of dropping many of them over a short weekend, sometimes in the spring, at qualification tournaments.

The European Aquatics U18 Men’s Water Polo Championships are back after an 18-year absence from the calendar. Photo Credit: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics

While 16 teams in the top-flight will play in Oradea, Rio Maior will welcome the Division One tournament with 13 sides.

With the reshaped system starting this year there is no clear indication of which teams should be considered favourites in the elite tournament to be held in Oradea.

Last year Hungary won the U18 World Championships in Buenos Aires, where they beat Serbia in the final. However only four players from that team are present at the Europeans.

Most of the teams are fielding youngsters who did not have international major in 2024, which makes this event unpredictable and thrilling at the same time.

In the top division Hungary, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands are starting their campaign in Group A, while in the other quartet, Spain, always the biggest threat nowadays anywhere, will take on Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro.

The playing format is the same – the top two ranked sides advance to the quarter-final directly, while the third and fourth placed teams will face the best from the second division in cross-over games, with winners going through to the quarter-finals.

In Rio Maior here the group-winners will move straight away to the quarters, while the second and third ranked sides will meet in cross-over matches.

All games can be followed live on European Aquatics TV as well as on our usual livescoring sites.

Live streaming: http://www.euroaquaticstv.com

Results, Oradea: https://results.microplustimingservices.com/ewpcU18m25/#/schedule-bydate/ASM

Result, Rio Maior: https://results.microplustimingservices.com/ewpcU18m25div1/#/schedule-bydate/ASM

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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