BELGRADE, Serbia, September 9. TEAM Russia claimed the gold medal in the women’s event at the European Water Polo Championships on Saturday with a 12-10 conquest over Italy. Russia, wearing the white caps, connected on 50 percent of its shots en route to the triumph. Meanwhile, Italy converted only 43.5-percent of its shots.
The win proved to be a team effort as four Russians accounted for a pair of goals each. Sofya Konukh, Ekaterina Pantulina, Olga Fomicheva and Elena Smurova each found paydirt in the back of the net on two occasions.
On the other side, Italy had two players score a pair of goals as Silvia Bosurgi and Manuela Zanchi each notched a goal.
In the bronze-medal match, Hungary stopped Spain, 12-11. Hungary relied upon a trio of goals from Anita Tomaskovics and Rita Dravucz for the bulk of its scoring, while Spain’s Cristina Lopez also notched a scoring trifecta in the loss.
The event took place after a grueling week of preliminary competition that led to the medal matches. The men conclude the championships on Sunday with the gold and bronze medal tilts as Serbia and Hungary duke it out for the title, while Romania and Spain go head-to-head for bronze.