Italy already secured the top spot in Group A after a hard-fought win over Greece, while Spain is all set to grab the first place in the other group after bettering Montenegro in a thrilling encounter. Croatia netted the winner 12 seconds from time to beat Hungary in another exciting clash while Serbia left no chance for the Germans.

In Group A, Italy forced Greece into a chasing game and landed all three points in the end. They were really effective in making the most of the six-on-fives, all but one of their five goals in the opening quarter came from those situations, they were 4 for 5, while the Greeks missed two and trailed 5-2 after eight minutes.

After more than five minutes of battling with no goals, Fabrizio Dominici converted another extra and Italy were 6-2 up with 2:40 to go till halftime. It looked like a wake-up call for the Greeks who halted their scoreless phase after nine long minutes and a fine action goal from Konstantinos Belesis halved the distance with 0:40 on the clock. Just eleven seconds later Maurizio Maffei fired one in, but Orestis Zervoudakis replied seven seconds from time to end the madness inside the last minutes at 7-5.

Both sides missed an extra before Francesco Scordo scored in a 6 on 4, but Belesis also sent the ball home from a six-on-five. Italy missed two more extras before the Greeks forced a penalty after a lucky rebound in a man-up and Christos Laskaridis buried a penalty, so Greece trailed only 8-7 entering the fourth period.

But all their efforts seemed to have gone down the drain, 73 seconds into the fourth Italy rebuilt the three-goal cushion – only to see the Greeks hit back in the same style in 46 seconds for 10-9. They had two more possessions to make it even but came up short and Antonio de Simone converted a crucial extra for Italy with 2:50 from time.

Konstantinos Bitsakos’ left made no mistake once more in Greece’s six-on-five but Mattia di Corato came up with a marvellous backhander from the centre and that sealed Italy’s win as the last two minutes saw no more goals.

The other two giants clashed in the evening, and they produced another outstanding game. The Croats took a better start and led 3-1 but the Magyars, after surviving a couple of man-downs which would have sent them 4-1 down, could equalise before the first break for 3-3. The second offered more twists, as Maro Susic’s penalty made it 4-3, then two great action goals and a penalty save swung the lead to Hungary at 4-5, but the Croats replied with a double in 45 seconds. Next came the Hungarians again, shut out their rivals for the remaining 4:34 minutes and took back the lead by halftime at 6-7.

The third began with a bang, two goals apiece in 70 seconds, then after some battling, Gabrijel Burburan equalised once more from an extra, for 9-9. Both sides missed a man-up before Ante Jerkovic netted the next one to put the Croats ahead for the first time this period, but Andras Toth fired his third in for 10-10, with 0:21 on the clock, and this was enough for a missed centre-shot here and a missed one-on-one counter at the other goal.

That was painful for the Hungarians as instead of leading by one, they went one down right away as Burburan finished off a six-on-five. Maxim Cseh’s fierce bounced ended up in the net, but Burburan was on fire and put away another extra, but a rebound gave an open chance for Csongor Lugosi at the other end to make it 12-12. After this minor storm of goals, the fight just intensified but the goals dried up as tensions were running high in both camps. The following four minutes offered several opportunities, two man-ups apiece, but the defences worked well. Then, Croatia, which could force six-on-fives in succession, managed to net one after a time-out, after setting up Mislav Cuckovic in front of the goal. Cseh kept his calm and his pinpoint shot brought Hungary back to even at 13-13, with 1:36 remaining.

Susic hit the post from the Croats next man-up, so the Magyars had the chance to take the lead but no call came after the feed for the centre, while at the other end another exclusion and a quick pass to Viktor Toncinic and his cool finish won the match for Croatia 12 seconds from time. Besides the Croats, Italians could also be happy as their top spot was sealed by this outcome.

In Group B, the Serbs dismantled the Germans, denying them any opportunity to force any similar tight match as they had managed to play with Montenegro. They stoKojic and Miljan Dokanovicftime and sailed away with a big win. Vuk Kojic and Miljan Dokanovic led the charge with five goals apiece as the Serbs hit 22 goals.

Day 1 winners, Montenegro and Spain produced a thriller. The Montenegrins jumped to a 3-1 lead, but the Spaniards came back to equal before the first break and took over the lead in the second to go 5-6 up by halftime.

Two of the brightest future stars, Strahinja Gojkovic and Tomas Perrone exchanged great goals early in the third, then midway through this quarter Spain, with some luck, managed to convert a 6 on 4 from a second attempt. After the Montenegrins missed an extra, the Spaniards could force a penalty to expand the gap to three at 6-9. Gojkovic pulled one back, also burying a penalty, then the Montenegrins missed a rare chance, a triple man-up, but a bit later another 6 on 4 brought them close as Gojkovic put it away 20 seconds from time for 8-9.

Though Biel Gomila kicked off the fourth with an easy close-range finish in a man-up, the Montenegrins replied with a fast double to come back to even at 10-10. Both offences were in the mood, the next four possessions also ended up in goals, all from action, so it stood 12-12 with 4:27 on the clock. Still, the Spanish could push it with a bit more consistency and two converted man-ups in 37 seconds gave them a two-goal lead. Nikola Petrovic pulled one back from an extra, then Spain missed the match-ball, a 6 on 4, but the Montenegrins were unable to convert their six-on-five 53 seconds from time and when they got a last chance in the last 15 seconds, two hurried shots were denied easily and Spain landed all three points and a win against Germany in the last round would keep them in the first place.

In the lower division, Turkiye and the Netherlands both added big wins on the second day and that cemented their first place in their respective groups so they could prepare for the crossover matches against the bottom ranked sides in Group A and B.

The Turks dismantled Bulgaria by hitting 20 goals, 7 of those coming from Efe Naipoglu, while the Dutch blew away Romania with a devastating 12-2 rush in the middle two quarters.

France bounced back from their opening loss with a fine victory over Slovenia to set up a do-or-die clash with Bulgaria. The scenario is the same in Group D, where Malta melted the Czechs and will play for the second spot against Romania on Day 3.

Elsewhere, in the lower division, the opening day saw only lop-sided contests. Turkiye downed France with a 9-1 rush in the middle two periods, while the Netherlands beat Malta in a 30-goal encounter. Romania stormed to a 6-1 lead against the Czechs and never looked back and Bulgaria also landed a big win at the expense of Slovenia, with Leon Kaszan leading the charge for the hosts with 6 goals.

Men’s U20 European Water Polo Championships, Division Elite, Varna (BUL)

Division Elite, Varna, Day 2

Group A: Italy v Greece 12-10, Croatia v Hungary 14-13

Group B: Germany v Serbia 13-22, Montenegro v Spain 13-14

Group C: Slovenia v France 13-21, Turkiye v Bulgaria 20-6

Group D: Malta v Czechia 19-6, Netherlands v Romania 17-7

For detailed results:

For Division One results, check out the results on this link:

Watch each game from both divisions live on euroaquaticstv.com