As expected, Italy and Netherlands produced the most exciting contest in the quarter-finals of the Women’s U16 European Water Polo Championships in Istanbul on Tuesday. The Italians came out on top and will face overall favourites Spain in Wednesday’s semis. The other semi-final will feature Greece and Hungary, after both delivered convincing wins in the quarters.
Women’s U16 European Water Polo Championships
Day 5 Quarter-Finals – Istanbul, Türkiye
Tuesday 1 July 2025
Greece 19-1 Türkiye
Italy 11-8 Netherlands
Spain 16-3 Croatia
Hungary 14-6 Germany
Classification 9th-12th
Serbia 18-11 Ukraine
Czechia 18-11 Romania
Classification 13th-15th
France 12-10 Malta
Women’s U16 European Water Polo Championships
Day 6 Semi-Finals – Istanbul, Türkiye
Wednesday 2 July 2025
(Local times shown)
19:00 Greece v Hungary
20:30 Italy v Spain
In the highlighted quarter-final of the day, the Netherlands opened the scoring, but Italy replied with four connecting goals in the first and they seemed to have gained full control as they cruised to a comfortable 7-3 lead by half-time.
However, the game heated up in the third with the Dutch enjoying a better spell, as they got much sharper up front and at the back, and with 2:50 to play before the last break they had fought back to 7-6.
A time-out helped the Italians and with two 6m blasts in just 28 seconds they were able to reset a three-goal gap. The Dutch had the last say of the quarter, though, as a converted a penalty meant they only trailed 9-7.
Italy’s Malika Bovo missed a penalty shortly after the restart, but within a minute she hit a brilliant one from the centre to give her side a 10-7 lead.
The next three and a half minutes saw missed six on fives at both ends, before Bovo struck again to make it 11-7 with 2:09 to go – though she was red-carded immediately after as tensions were running high.
The Dutch pulled one back from their next possession, but they couldn’t add any more in the remaining 1:52 minutes.
The other three encounters in the quarters lacked the kind of excitements from the Italy-Netherlands clash. Greece blew the hosts away, limiting Türkiye to just a single goal, which came early in the third at 10-1 – it was a real demonstration of their power and intent.
Indeed, the home players were maybe a bit worn out as they had played a tough crossover match a day earlier, while the Greeks enjoyed a rest day – though the difference in the skills made the outcome inevitable.
The scenario was almost similar in the game between Spain and Croatia. The Spaniards started off with a 4-0 rush in the first quarter and led 7-2 at half-time – and they did even better after that, as they produced a 9-1 rout in the second half.
In the last quarter-final of the day, the Hungarians needed some time to overcome their tensions as they only managed to score their first goal against the Germans with 1:11 on the clock in the first (to level at 1-1).
In the second, they started to get going and, despite missing a second penalty, they finally pulled away by scoring four in a row after 3-3. By the third, they had found their rhythm and produced another 6-2 run, though a bit surprisingly, they slowed down in the fourth. In the end, they mirrored the first half scoring (1-1, 6-2), as they finished the game with another 1-1 quarter.
In the matches for the 9-12th places, the crossovers brought identical results. Both Serbia and Czechia won 18-11 against Ukraine and Romania respectively, so they will clash for the 9th place.
In the round robin tournament for the 13-15th places, France got the better of Malta in the fourth, as after 9-9, they scored three in a row to help land the three points.
Watch all the action live from Istanbul for free on the European Aquatics TV channel, which can be found by clicking here. For the full results/tables and schedule, click here.
Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
