Gzira 2025: Spain to face Greece for the gold at EA U18 Women Water Polo Championships
Spain recovered from an early 0-3 set-back against Hungary by smashing in 10 goals in the second quarter to take control of their semi-final clash at the women’s U18 European Championships in Malta on Saturday. The Magyars fought back to retake the lead, but another late surge saw Spain win a spectacular encounter. Elsewhere, Greece dominated the early exchanges against Italy and ran out comfortable winners – also scoring 18 overall just like Spain – to book their place in Sunday’s showpiece final.
Semi-finals: Spain beat Hungary after incredible twists
Spain won a 32-goal epic against Hungary, which saw astonishing twists as the young ladies gave it their absolute all.
After the Magyars soaked up some early pressure with great defending, they opened the scoring from their first extra after four minutes and soon they were 0-3 up as the Spanish were frozen at both ends of the pool.
Though sluggish starts have been somewhat part of Spain’s performances in Malta, they had previously never trailed by three at any point in this tournament.
For a while, they seemed to get into even bigger trouble as Kincso Kenez buried a penalty for 2-6, two minutes into the second period.
What came next was anything but expected after such a beginning. The Spanish started finding the tools to penetrate the Hungarian defence. In fact, it was more – dismantling at its best.
Spain managed to score from every one of their possessions until the break. They put away all four extras, sent pinpoint shots to the net from the perimeter… And even though the Hungarians could net two more, they were unable to stop the Spaniards, who were well and truly rolling.
When the buzzer went, the scoreboard showed something incredible – a 10-8 Spanish lead, which meant they had scored 10 goals in a single quarter.
Firing in double digits in eight minutes is a rarity, even in the group stage, and it’s perhaps never happened before in any semi-final at a major event.
After such an incredible surge, one may have thought the Hungarians were done, especially after the Spaniards kicked off the third with another woman-up goal.
But again, it was stunning what the fans witnessed in the following minutes. A 0-4 rush by the Magyars saw them retake the lead at 11-12.
Hungary scored back-to-back penalties at the end of counters, then an extra, followed by a brilliant lob by Sara Keszthelyi from action, while their defence survived a woman-down, finally, after conceding goals from five in a row.
And they had another six on five, but missed it – and then the Spaniards started to regain their speed and strength to force exclusions and convert their extras again.
Inside 43 seconds, they went ahead once more at 13-12. Surprisingly, two minutes followed without a goal – but the devastating speed of the game had begun to take its toll on the players.
Liv del Sol’s 6m blast was crucial, as it reset Spain’s two-goal lead, and even though Hanga Szalkai netted an extra, Marina Munoz forced herself into a good position to hit one from the centre 29 seconds from time. After another magnificent quarter, which saw five goals apiece, Spain led 15-13.
The fourth began in dramatic fashion. The Magyars earned a penalty, but after burying four, Kenez couldn’t beat the goalie this time and her next shot in a six on five was also stopped by Maria Vaquero.
That was vital, as the Spanish geared up and hit two outstanding goals from the centre. Laia Tutusaus managed to score with a defender around her neck, and Mari Duenas’ hit was also spectacular at the end of a fast attack.
Instead of 14-15, the Magyars found themselves 13-17 down in 44 seconds, and even though there was still 5:22 to play, it was hard to see another twist in the story.
It never came, as the Magyars were worn out by the devastating tempo of the match. They pulled one back soon, but in the following minutes they missed two six on fives, so Munoz’s hit from a counter 1:03 from time was just the icing on the cake.
Semi-finals: Greece overpower Italy
The second semi-final didn’t offer the same thrills, as the Italians were simply unable to match the Greeks’ pace, and they had faded away by the end of the third period.
Greece got off to the better start, taking a 4-2 lead in little more than four minutes, but two blasts from action, by Malika Bovo and Marta Maninetti brought the Italians back to even. They also had a six on five, but couldn’t convert it.
That missed opportunity quickly came back to haunt them, as Despoina Drakotou netted from the ensuing counter – and more pain came in the very last second of the opening quarter when Nefeli Krassa stunned Italy’s superb goalie Letizia Scibona from her own half to make it 6-4.
Margherita Minuto put away an extra for Italy early in the second period, but they missed their next, and again, Drakotou penalised them by scoring from the counter.
The Italians were now on a downward spiral, missing another woman-up, and the Greeks soon scored another action goal, and a bit later Krassa showed how to convert a six on five to give Greece a 9-5 lead.
Minuto then managed to finally put away an extra for Italy, but another Greek counter in the dying seconds, finished off by Eleni Elmisian, reset their four-goal cushion by half-time, at 10-6.
The Greeks looked more composed and after the restart, they managed to deliver another blow in just 90 seconds. Androniki Karagianni hit a double, a nice one from the perimeter to kick off the third period, followed by another fast counter and the Greeks were up by six.
The Italians had desperate tries and managed to add a couple of goals, but their defence never started clicking. Scibona, who had produced tremendous saves on their way to the semis, got little or no support from her mates in the form of blocks or good marking, plus they were powerless to stop the Greeks’ endless counters.
In fact, the game was over after three periods, at 15-9.
Krassa hit her sixth at the start of the fourth, again from a counter, and soon they finished another fast break – and the last Greek goal was also from a counter, as Rafaela Saltamanika netted her fourth. All in all, it was the eighth goal from that kind.
Looking at the final score, 18-10, it was easy to pick the one stat that displayed what made the difference between the two teams.
For places 5-8th
Whether it’s a men’s, women’s, seniors’ or age-group event, a Serbia versus Croatia clash always promises a fierce and entertaining contest. And the young ladies didn’t disappoint in that respect, though the Croats proved their strength and qualities once more by turning the match into a lop-sided game in the third period.
It looked like it would be an easy ride for Croatia early on, as they quickly built a 1-4 lead, then, after four more minutes of ‘swimming & wrestling’, Neli Jankovic made it 5-1.
The Serbs finally managed to find some rhythm, hitting two in 26 seconds, and that halted the Croats’ domination and rocked their confidence a little. Just like in the middle of the quarter, the finish saw an action goal-counter combo (with a penalty at the end), which shaved off two more from Croatia’s advantage, this time in 21 seconds.
It was Jankovic again who stepped up and hit a huge one 36 seconds from time to make it 5-7 at half-time.
The Serbs earned back-to-back six on fives early in the third, but missed both – the second after a time-out – and that ultimately cost them the match. The Croatians, in contrast, produced perfect woman-up play, converting three in a row in just 88 seconds, and now led 5-10.
Serbia finally bagged one from an extra, but the Croats were in no danger of letting the match slip away. They led 7-11 before the last break and added two more early in the fourth to secure a fine victory.
Just like the previous night against Hungary, Jankovic and Jelena Butic led the charge with nine goals combined – and these two are well set to shape the future of Croatian water polo.
The Netherlands proved too strong for Israel, though the underdogs managed to keep up for the entire first half and even a little longer after that.
After jumping into a 3-0 lead, the Dutch looked firmly in control early on, but the Israelis stunned them with a couple of fine skip-shots and three minutes into the second, they even went ahead at 3-4.
That finally sounded the alarm bells for the Netherlands players and in 33 seconds they turned the match back around, then Kiara Heerink doubled their lead, but Israel’s Libby Gur-Koren put away an extra 12 seconds before half-time for 6-5.
Israel trailed by just one for almost three minutes in the third, but then the Dutch finally broke their resistance for good. It was a devastating demonstration of their power, with five goals from as many possessions in a span of three minutes, and one more shortly before the end of the quarter.
This 6-0 rush put the game to bed as the Dutch led 13-6 entering the fourth quarter. The scoreline opened the door for a bit of a scoring festival in the closing stages, as the Israelis also found the net a few times, but the Netherlands cruised to victory.
Classification matches
Apart from a brief phase early in the second period, Türkiye bossed their game against Germany and clinched the 9th place, as a kind of proof they are still the best of the rest, after being dropped from the top eight in the crossovers.
They surged into a 4-2 lead inside the opening eight minutes, but the Germans equalised with two fast goals early in the second.
That momentum didn’t last long, though, as Mina Bozkurt’s action goal gave the lead back to Türkiye, and later, Arik Bilge buried a penalty, and more importantly, their defence was doing a tremendous job.
Türkiye shut out the Germans for a lengthy 10:22 minutes, while their attack added three more goals in the third to complete a decisive 5-0 rush.
The Germans were able to score in the latter part of this quarter. but the Türks also netted a couple of goals, with Bozkurt’s fine action hit 13 seconds from time securing a 11-7 lead before the last period. Ultimately, the Türks looked more determined in the key moments, and that helped secure them a big win.
Great Britain also finished their campaign on a high note against Slovakia. They were 2-6 ahead by half-time, but their opponents had a better spell early in the third when they climbed back to 4-6, while the Brits looked a bit slower than usual.
However, Slovakia’s fourth goal served as a wake-up call and the Brits then staged a perfect storm, stringing together a 4-0 rush in the last two minutes before the last break for 4-10, which set them on the road for a comfortable victory.
Great Britain’s sharpshooters Zianna Wright and Amelie Perkins fired in four goals each, which remarkably took Perkins’ overall tournament total past the 50-mark to 51 (from eight games).
The mini-tournament for 17th place saw the ‘final’ played on Saturday as well. Both Ireland and Switzerland had beaten Bulgaria in the previous days, so they clashed for the 17th spot.
Ireland took a flying start, establishing an impressive 5-1 lead, but the Swiss response was just as great, as they caught them up early in the third period at 6-6.
However, they couldn’t handle Laura Casserly, who put the Irish back on the winning track almost single-handedly. Also, the Swiss seemed to run out of steam once they levelled the scores – indeed, they were unable to add any in the last 14:42 minutes.
Casserly went on delivering goal after goal, and in the end she stopped at seven, which proved to be a game-winning effort in a match where the final result was 10-6.
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Women’s U18 Europeans, Malta
Results, Day 7
Saturday 6 September
Semi-finals
Spain v Hungary 18-14
Greece v Italy 18-10
For 5-8th places
Serbia v Croatia 8-13
Netherlands v Israel 15-10
For 9th place
Turkiye v Germany 14-9
For 11th place
Slovakia v Great Britain 6-13
For 17-19th places
Ireland Switzerland 10-6
Fixtures for the final day
Sunday 7 September
(Local times shown)
20.30 – Final
Spain v Greece
19.00 – Bronze medal match
Hungary v Italy
17.30 – For the 5th place
Croatia v Netherlands
16.00 – For the 7th place
Serbia v Israel
Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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