Greece’s national water polo youth team advanced to the World Championship final after beating Serbia 9-8 on Saturday evening in Hungary, waiting to face Spain on Sunday.
Dimitris Kravaritis’ young players overcame the tough Serbs in a nail-biting semi-final in Hungary. At the same time, Spain beat hosts Hungary 12-11 in an equally thrilling match. The Greece – Spain final promises equally big thrills for water polo fans.
Greece and Serbia were the two unbeaten teams in the tournament, and the Serbs started the match better and took the lead with 2-1 in the first eight minutes.
In the second period the Serbian team scored another one but Greece quickly reduced to 3-2. The Serbs continued to dominate but Greece scored a penalty that closed the score to 5-4 at half-time.
At the start of the third eighth, the Serbian team continued to dominate having a two-point lead (5-7) for most of the third.
However, after that the Serbs missed a crucial man-up, later a penalty (the second in the match) and soon the Greeks started rolling. Early in the fourth they expanded their rush to 4-0 and even though the Serbs pushed for an equalizer, the Greek defense worked perfectly, the final score being 9-8.
Eight minute periods: 1-2, 3-3, 4-2, 1-1
After the win, Greece has secured the silver medal, and on Sunday the water polo youths will go for the gold.
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