Courtesy: LEN
Four years after the female team had written history, the men’s team of Israel also made the last step and qualified for the European Championships for the first time ever. It came at the expense of the Turks – this is the only change in the field from 2020 as the other favorites all advanced with ease. In the women’s tournaments, Romania managed to edge out Slovakia to join the elite also for a historical first appearance.
Final rankings
Men
- Group A (Kranj): 1. France 10 (+53), 2. Germany 10 (+44), 3. Slovenia 6, 4. Switzerland 3, 5. Belgium 0
- Group B (Tbilisi): 1. Georgia 9, 2. Slovakia 6, 3. Belarus 3, 4. Poland 0
- Group C (Gzira): 1. Romania 9, 2. Malta 6, 3. Lithuania 3, 4. Ireland 0
- Group D (Netanya): 1. Netherlands 9, 2. Israel 6, 3. Turkey 1, 4. Ukraine 1
Women
- Group A (Bucharest): 1. Germany 12, 2. Romania 9, 3. Slovakia 6, 4. Ukraine 1, 5. Ireland 1
- Group B (Zrenjanin): 1. Greece 12, 2. Serbia 9, 3. Switzerland 6, 4. Turkey 3, 5. Belgium 0
- Group C with France, Israel, Malta and Portugal is to take place on 4-6 March in Gzira (MLT)
First two ranked sides from each group qualified for the European Championships.
As expected in the men’s qualifiers, only Group D brought excitements – but there every day served some thrilling action. Turkey, having played in five of the last six editions, already needed a miracle to save its opening game against Ukraine to a draw by scoring twice in the last 29 seconds.
Next day Israel managed to pull off a narrow 7-6 win over the Ukrainians to set up a do-or-die encounter with Turkey. The hosts were flying high in the first half and gained a 7-2 lead, but the Turks started climbing back after 8-2 and trailed 9-6 before the last period. However, they could only score a late goal in the fourth so at the end the Israelis could jubilantly celebrate their historical qualification – behind the Netherlands which beat all three rivals easily.
The other three groups didn’t see similar close contests as far as the top two spots were concerned. France and Germany didn’t leave any doubt in Group A – they played a great game which ended in a draw, the goal difference favoured the French for the first place. In Tbilisi, Georgia and Slovakia ruled the field, their last day clash produced an epic 34-goal battle, the hosts had it in the end with 18-16. Romania blew all rivals away including the other advancing team Malta in Group C, and also set the scoring record for the weekend by hitting 45 against Ireland.
Still, not the men but the women team wrote the headlines in Romania as the ladies managed to book their spot on the big stage for the first time. Playing at home, all they needed was a win against Slovakia and they achieved that in a hotly contested match.
The Romanians did a great job for three periods and went 7-4 ahead but the Slovaks came back strong in the fourth and at 8-8 they caught up with the hosts. However, Romania had the last laugh as Anita Toth netted the winner with 2:34 to go. Here the Germans had no headaches to secure the first place. Greece and Serbia did a clean job in Group B – the
Greeks scored 104 goals in four matches. The third group promises more excitements – games are to be played on the first weekend of March.
The planned date for the draw for the European Championships is 23 April – the event would take place in Split, a final confirmation is due from the host broadcaster soon.
The European Water Polo Championships will be played in the Spaladium Arena from 27 August to 10 September.
Teams in the men’s tournament
Teams ranked 1-8th in 2020: Hungary, Spain, Montenegro, Croatia (also as host), Serbia, Italy, Greece, Russia
Qualified teams: France, Georgia, Netherlands, Romania, Germany, Israel, Malta, Slovakia
Teams are to be drawn in four groups of four.
Teams in the women’s tournament
Teams ranked 1-5th: Spain, Russia, Hungary, Netherlands, Italy. Host: Croatia
Qualified teams: Germany, Greece, Romania, Serbia + two teams from Group C. Teams are to be drawn in two groups of six.
