In a clash of unbeaten with Olympic hopes, it was the home team that came out ahead Wednesday at the 34th LEN European Water Polo Championships. Behind four goals from captain Rita Keszthelyi-Nagy and cheered on by a raucous crowd, the Hungarian women’s side held on for a 9-8 win over Russia to remain unbeaten in Group A play.
Defending Euro champs the Netherlands rode an offensive explosion by Maud Megens and stellar netminding by Debby Willemsz, to also remain spotless on the fourth day of play at Budapest’s Duna Aréna, beating Italy 10-4 in Group B action. Joining the Dutch and the Hungarians at the top of the standings were Greece—an 18-2 winner over Slovakia—and Spain, which beat Israel 18-2. France knocked off Germany by a score of 17-5, while Croatia held on against regional rival Serbia 9-8 on a late goal by Emmi Miljkovic.
Besides the prestige of Europe’s top annual polo tournament, this year’s championship holds an additional prize; the winner qualifies for a berth in the 2020 Olympics. On the continent, only Spain has already booked a berth in Tokyo; the other top contenders for Euro gold in Budapest get another shot for an Olympic berth, in March in Italy. But, all coaches would prefer to finalize travel plans now and focus on preparing for the sport’s most important tournament in July.
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Wednesday, all eyes were on the day’s final match which paired two of the tournaments best teams. Hungary had previously taken care of business with easy wins over Croatia and Slovakia. Russia had dominated in victories over Serbia and Slovakia, outscoring their opponents 58-4 by connecting on an astounding 70% (58 of 83) of their shots.
Things were different against a Hungarian side buoyed by it loyal fans. Behind goalie Orsolya Cseho-Kovacsne Kaso (12 saves) and a taut defensive effort, the home team held the Russians to just eight scores on 28 chances, keeping Ekaterina Prokofyeva—one of the world’s most lethal attackers—off the scoring sheet. Prokofyeva missed all five of her shots; it was up to Olga Gorbunova (three goals) to carry the offensive load for the visitors. She brought her team within one with less than two minutes remaining, but the Russians could not get even as Gorbunova missed from six meters out with 16 seconds remaining.
Hungary moves on to a contest Friday against another unbeaten squad. They take on a Greek side that has been fortunate to face the bottom half of the Group A bracket. Greece—fighting to get to the European Championship final for a second straight year—dominated a Slovak squad that in three matches has given up 69 goals while netting a mere six.
Georgios Morfesis and his Greek squad hope an Olympic berth is theirs for the first time since 2004. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne
That trend continued Wednesday. Eleftheria Plevritou (three goals) continued her hot hand in Budapest; she leads her Greek teammates in scoring with 11 goals, while her sister Margarita (five goals on Wednesday) has chipped in six for a family total of 17. It will take more than a sister act to upset the Hungarians, who would like nothing better to win a Euro title at home and capture an Olympic berth.
The Russians will regroup for a match Friday against Croatia. In beating Serbia by one on Wednesday, the Croats broke into the win column with a strong defensive effort, holding their rivals to eight goals on 31 shots. Miljkovic and Ivana Butic had two scores each for the winners, while goalie Alexandra Ratkovic turned aside 15 Serbian attempts.
Next up for Serbia is a winnable match against Slovakia; the Slovaks were again on the wrong side of a crooked number. In three matches only Tamara Kolarova (three goals) and Miroslava Stankovianska (two scores) have registering more than a single score.
On the other side of the women’s draw, the Netherlands has dominated Group B thanks to a stellar effort by Megens and the Dutch defense. Willemsz (26 saves in three matches) has emerged as the top keeper for Dutch head coach Arno Havenga. This is key to The Netherlands’ pursuit of an Olympic berth for the first time since a gold-medal effort at the Beijing Games in 2008. The Netherlands defense pitched a shutout in the second half to their match against Italy, silver medalist at the 2016 Games in Rio. Numerous field blocks contributed to the Dutch second-half success, with Megens closing the scoring with her 13th goal of the tournament, good for second behind Keszthelyi-Nagy’s 15.
Havenga’s squad will face France on Friday; the French scored an easy win over Germany behind hat tricks from Lea Bachelier, Audrey Daule and Juliette Dhalluin. The Germans got two scores from captain Gesa Deike; they will have difficulty rebounding against Spain, a big winner against Israel.
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The Spaniards, who have already qualified for Tokyo by virtue of a second-place finish in last years’ FINA World Water Polo Championships, have been methodical in taking down France, Italy and now an Israeli squad making only its second-ever appearance at the European Championships. Resting leading scorer Rosser Tarrago (eight goals), Spain got five goals from Beatriz Ortiz Muñoz and four scores from Clara Espar Llaquet and Judith Forca Ariza.
After three days of play, the standings are:
Group A Group B
Hungary (3-0) Netherlands (3-0)
Greece (3-0) Spain (3-0)
Russia (2-1) Italy (1-2)
Croatia (1-2) France (1-2)
Serbia (0-3) Israel (0-3)
Slovakia (0-3) Germany (0-3)
Today the men are back in action; the featured matches are Hungary versus Spain and regional rivals Croatia against Montenegro. In other matches, Slovakia plays Germany, Malta faces Turkey, Romania tips off against Serbia; it’s the Netherlands against Russia, Greece and Georgia square off, France will take on Italy.
For live streaming and all scoring sheets, visit the 2020 Budapest website here.