The second day of the World Men’s U16 Championships in Zagreb offered more excitement than the first one. There were several derbies between the teams that are close to each other in the World Aquatics Rankings for the male age groups.
The highlights of the day were matches Montenegro – Italy and Greece – Spain.
The Montenegrins beat Italy 12:10. They had a four-goal lead in the fourth period (10:6, 11:7, 12:8), but Italy halved its deficit. Anyway, Montenegro earned a lot of TPI points for this win – 97,4 – much more than for a 34:2 victory over Zimbabwe (76,2). Italy still has a chance to reach the quarterfinals, but it needs convincing wins in the last two rounds of the group stage (against Slovenia and China). If the Italians defeat China, they will get a lot of points, because the Chinese are in 6th place in the WA Rankings. China has suffered two losses so far (to Malta in a shootout and to Brazil), and it is out of the race for the quarterfinals. Montenegro will have another demanding task tomorrow, when it will face Russia.
The clash with Spain, the 2024 World U16 champion, was a must-win game for Greece, which suffered a 4:7 loss to Russia yesterday. It didn’t started well for the Greeks. Spain had a 4:1 lead early in the second quarter. However, Greece tightened its defense and went on a 7:1 run, building a 8:5 lead with five minutes remaining on th clock. Spain started climbing back and cut the deficit to 7:8, and again at 8:9. But, the Spaniards couldn’t go further, the Greeks recorded a 9:8 win that keeps their chanes of qualifying for the quarterfinals alive. But, the Greeks are currently in 21st place. In the remaining two days, they will face Puerto Rico, and then, will play a new derby, agaist Greece.
There were fierce battles between teams that are not medal contenders.
Kazakhstan defeated Singapore 16:15 in a penalty shootout. Israel recovered from an opening loss to Brazil, by beating Ukraine 11:10. Poland downed South Africa in a low-scoring contest (8:6). The Czech Republic, the only team that didn’t score a goal in the first round (it lost to the Netherlands 24:0), scored eight today, which was enough for a victory over Zimbabwe, 8:6.
After two days, 11 teams have two wins each: Russia, Brazil, New Zealand, Hungary, Croatia, Egypt, Romania, Montenegro, USA, Serbia and Malta. The Maltese achieved one win in regular time and another in a shootout.
In the upcoming days, we will find out if some underdog teams can make it to the quarterfinals. Brazil and New Zealand, both of which have accumulated a significant number of points, are in strong positions. Tomorrow, they will face relatively easier opponents, and on Day 4, they will go head-to-head. This match will likely be crucial for both teams if they defeat their opponents tomorrow. Brazil will have a tougher test on Day 3, as it will meet Ukraine. New Zealand will play against Peru.
2026 World Men’s U16 Championships, Zagreb, Day 2
Kazakhstan – Singapore 16:15 (4:4, 1:2, 5:2, 2:4, PSO 4:3)
Egypt – Uruguay 21:4 (7:0, 2:1, 5:1, 6:2)
Germany – USA 8:12 (1:2, 3:2, 2:4, 2:4)
South Africa – Poland 6:8 (3:3, 2:2, 1:3, 0:0)
Hungary – Turkiye 12:6 (5:2, 5:1, 0:1, 2:2)
Ukraine – Israel 10:11 (2:3, 3:2, 3:3, 2:3)
Brazil – China 13:7 (2:2, 6:1, 3:4, 2:0)
Peru – Romania 3:17 (1:6, 1:3, 1:3, 0:5)
Netherlands – Serbia 12:15 (2:4, 3:6, 3:1, 4:4)
Czech Republic – Zimbabwe 8:6 (4:2, 1:1, 0:2, 3:1)
Italy – Montenegro 10:12 (3:3, 2:3, 1:3, 4:3)
Mexico – Malta 8:15 (1:6, 3:3, 3:3, 1:3)
Canada – New Zealand 10:11 (4:2, 1:3, 3:4, 2:2)
Slovenia – Puerto Rico 18:1 (4:1, 3:0, 4:0, 7:0)
Australia – Croatia 7:15 (3:6, 1:5, 2:1, 1:3)
Russia – Malaysia 23:3 (4:0, 7:2, 5:0, 7:1)
Spain – Greece 8:9 (3:1, 2:2, 0:4, 3:2)
Georgia – Portugal 7:4 (2:1, 0:1, 3:2, 2:0)
Standings of the top 15 teams
- Russia 97,1 (average of TPI points in two matches)
- Brazil 95,4
- New Zealand 92,2
- Malta 90,7
- Hungary 90,6
- Croatia 90
- Egypt 89,3
- Romania 87,5
- Montenegro 86,8
- USA 83,9
- Spain 83,2
- Serbia 82,1
- Italy 80,8
- Germany 76,8
- Georgia 75,6
,etc.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
