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Day 9 of European Water Polo Championships: favorites are through
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All four favourite 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.
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
- Hungarian women made a shutout on Day 8 of European Water Polo Championships
- Hungary ties largest-ever win in history on Day 7 of the European Water Polo Championships
Russia v Georgia 14-13
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.
Romania v Greece 7-14
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 favourites came in a span of 44 seconds, a double by Konstantinos Genidounias, still, the Romanians held on for 5-4 at halftime.