Greece claimed a dominant win against Hungary, while Spain had to give it all to down Italy in a hard-fought match in the semi-finals of the Women’s U16 European Water Polo Championship in Istanbul. In the end, the two unbeaten sides will clash for the title on Thursday.
Women’s U16 European Water Polo Championships
Day 6 Semi-Finals – Istanbul, Türkiye
Wednesday 2 July 2025
Greece 15-12 Hungary
Italy 10-13 Spain
5-8th Classification Semi-Finals
Türkiye 10-7 Germany
Netherlands 19-8 Croatia
9/10th Final
Serbia 14-13 Czechia
11th/12th Final
Ukraine 9-10 Romania
13th-15th Play-off
Slovakia 7-5 Malta
Women’s U16 European Water Polo Championships
Day 7 Finals – Istanbul, Türkiye
Thursday 3 July 2025
(Local times shown)
Bronze Medal Game
18:30 Hungary v Italy
Gold Medal Game
20:00 Greece v Spain
In Wednesday’s first semi-final, the Greeks were superior to the Hungarians all over the pool and their composed game secured the win practically by the end of the third period.
In the first quarter, the Magyars managed to climb back from time to time to trail by one, but in a span of two minutes the Greeks hit three from distance to make it 8-4 and never looked back.
A missed Greece penalty didn’t slow down their march, as they played on a different level to the Hungarians, both in attack and in defence.
All in all, the Greeks netted six in the second period to lead 11-6 and they even increased the gap in the third, as the Magyars couldn’t really outplay them in any situation.
Indeed, Hungary scored from six on fives twice only after regaining the ball and pushing it through the virtual goal line (once together with the defender…) – while the Greeks came up with flawless finishes.
Hungary had a late surge when they scored three in a row to come back to 15-12, but they were unable to add any more in the last four minutes and the Greeks could celebrate their fifth straight victory in Istanbul.
Some expected something similar in the second semi-final, as the Spaniards have seemed invincible so far in Istanbul.
However, the Italians stunned them with a strong start, and Margherita Minuto was on fire, hitting three goals in quick succession to put her team 4-2 up.
The Spaniards came back to even shortly before the first break, but it was clear it wouldn’t be the usual easy-going game they had enjoyed on the previous days.
Spain added two more to make it 4-6 at the start of the second, but their 0-4 run was soon halted by Minuto and later Francesca Lucignani joined her to equalise for 6-6.
After a Julia Vilaseca strike, Lucignani quickly levelled again for 7-7, then Daniela Penalver hit one from action to retake the lead for Spain and Italy missed a six on five, so it stood 7-8 at half-time.
The third brought a grand defensive battle, as the goals dried up for a while, especially for the Italians. Two fierce bouncers gave Spain the momentum, as they went up by three for the first time.
Still, just when Spain may have thought they had finally gained control, a great action goal from Rebecca Novella and another hit from Sara Pulvirenti hauled the Italians back into the game, as they trailed 9-10 with eight minutes remaining.
Again, a Spanish bouncer from the left wing did the damage two minutes into the fourth, and this came seconds after Italy had missed a crucial extra, which could have brought them level.
Instead, Penalver’s fine goal doubled Spain’s lead. Lucignani pulled one back from a six on four, but the Spanish reply came immediately, as Julia Vilaseca also converted an extra for 10-12.
Italy kept fighting, but couldn’t really penetrate Spain’s defence, while their rivals could afford missing a couple of six on fives, before a lucky goal – from a rebound after a missed penalty – secured Spain’s win 1:01 before the final buzzer.
In the crossovers among the losing quarter-finalists, the Netherlands outclassed Croatia. The Dutch dominated right from the beginning and won convincingly with their captain Marjoelin de Gier hitting six.
They will play against Türkiye for the 5th place, as the host side outpowered the Germans with a great run in the third that saw them storm into a 9-3 lead, which was enough to sail away with another memorable win.
Serbia claimed the 9th place by downing Czechia. The Serbs led 14-10 after three periods, and even though the Czechs had a great spell in the fourth – reducing the gap to a single goal in three minutes – they couldn’t score any more in the remaining five.
The match for the 11th place also saw a close contest between Ukraine and Romania. Ukraine came back from four goals down to level the score at 9-9 with 1:47 remaining, but Maria Stan hit the winner for Romania 46 seconds from time.
For the lower ranks, Slovakia downed Malta by two goals to set-up a decisive match against France for the 13th place, while Malta finished in last place after their second loss in the 13th-15th round robin.
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
