Sports
Quarter-final spots confirmed at Men’s U16 European Water Polo Championships
Spain, Serbia, Greece and Italy all came up with big wins on Tuesday to confirm their places in the quarter-finals of the Elite men’s U16 European Water Polo Championships in Istanbul. Meanwhile, in Division One in Ljubljana, France, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Switzerland all maintained their perfect starts.
Men’s U16 European Water Polo Championships
Day 2 Elite Division
Group Stage – Istanbul, Türkiye
Tuesday 8 July 2025
Group A
Hungary 9-14 Serbia
Türkiye 12-14 Spain
Group B
Croatia 14-18 Italy
Montenegro 11-16 Greece
Group C
Moldova 11-17 Georgia
Malta 14-22 Netherlands
Group D
Romania 18-7 Poland
Day 2 Division One
Group Stage – Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tuesday 8 July 2025
Group A
Portugal 14-18 Slovakia
Cyprus 11-18 France
Bulgaria 15-14 Slovenia
Group B
Latvia 2-27 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Lithuania 12-13 Ukraine
Czechia 9-15 Switzerland
After the opening day’s big wins in the Elite division, a more balanced match kicked off the action in Tuesday’s afternoon session, featuring the crème de la crème of the tournament.
In fact, Italy and Croatia produced a crazy match. The Italians were dominating in the first half, with a double in 43 seconds midway through the second quarter putting them 4-7 up and they added another one while killing two man-downs to lead 4-8 at the turnaround.
However, the Croats hit back in dramatic fashion in the third, as two early action goals in 21 seconds halved the gap, and they soon hit another double, this time in a span of 36 seconds, bringing them back to 8-8 and only 2:35 of the quarter had been played.
Francesco Maffei’s action goal halted the Croats’ run, but only temporarily, as Deni Sappe’s strike and Nardo Skejic’s 6m blast put them ahead at 10-9 (Skejic finished the afternoon with seven goals).
Antonio Chianese managed to equalise, and another exchange of goals kept the teams on even before the last break.
The fourth began with more attacking brilliance, with one fast goal at both ends, before Francesco Corelli netted two from action in 45 seconds and Filippo Gordi added another to stretch their advantage to three.
Croatia pulled one back though Duje Burazin, but Maffei’s action goal extended Italy’s lead to three (13-16) 1:56 from time and his fourth a bit later sealed his team’s victory.
The second half was a real entertaining affair, with the Croats winning the third 7-3, while the Italians took the fourth 3-7 to clinch their second win, while their rivals had to settle for a second loss.
Greece also made it two wins from two with another demonstration of their power and strength, this time against Montenegro.
The Greeks looked in control throughout, taking an 8-9 lead at half-time and they came out even stronger after the long break.
More clinical finishing saw them win the second half 3-7 and cruise to an 11-16 win. Captain Maximos Mantzouridis and Konstantinos Papanikolaou were both on fire, scoring five each.
Serbia may have struggled to get past Türkiye on Monday, but they showed no signs of tiredness as they produced an incredible finish on Tuesday to hand Hungary their second successive defeat.
The Magyars led 9-7 midway through the third before their attack fizzled out and Serbia took full control, scoring seven unanswered goals to take all the points.
After their heroics against Serbia on the opening day, hosts Türkiye were determined to prove that performance wasn’t just a one-off.
Against Spain, they were at it again, matching their illustrious opponents blow for blow, and they even led 8-7 at half-time.
More battling continued in the third and a last-gasp strike from captain Batur Alp Yildiz kept Türkiye believing in an upset, as the scores stood at 10-10.
In the final eight minutes, Spain hit a double to settle their nerves, but strikes from Emir Gozen and Yildiz again (he finished with four on the night) levelled the scores at 12-12, as the roof of the arena threatened to come off, such was the noise coming from the stands.
With 2:14 remaining, Spain’s Svilen Piralkov scored from action, then captain Tiago Carrio broke Türkiye’s hearts with another goal that killed the game.
It was another magnificent display from the hosts, who are unfortunate to have nothing to show from their two performances so far.
In the lower section, all four spots in the crossovers have been booked. In Group C, Georgia downed Moldova and the Netherlands brought down Malta.
The winners advance to challenge the 3-4th placed sides from Group A and B for a place in the quarter-finals (and a potential spot among the best sides in two years’ time).
Romania thrashed Poland in Group D and will play against the Germans tomorrow for the top spot.
In the Division One tournament in Ljubljana, Slovakia upended Portugal in Group A, with the Portuguese’s six-goal surge arriving too late in the fourth as they were 8-16 down after three periods.
France did a clean job against Cyprus, as they proved too strong for them in the second half, winning the third 3-5 and fourth 2-6. French star Apollo Danovsky caused most of the damage, hammering in six times.
Bulgaria led for almost all of their game against the hosts Slovenia, but their opponents never stopped hunting them down, and almost forced a draw in a tense final minute.
In Group B, Ukraine claimed a hard-fought win over Lithuania. In the end, they took the upper hand 13-12, but they had led 13-9 after three periods and the Lithuanians last goal came 12 seconds from time.
Bosnia & Herzegovina had little trouble beating Lativa 2-27, while Switzerland got the better of Czechia, with a 0-4 second quarter setting them on the path to victory.
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Watch all the action live from Istanbul and Ljubljana for free on the European Aquatics TV channel, which can be found by clicking here.
For the full results/tables and schedule from Istanbul, click here.
For the full results/tables and schedule from Ljubljana, click here.
Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics