Qualification cross-overs

Romania 18 China 9

 All photos courtesy of: Jo Kleindl/DSV/World Aquatics

Romania returns to the World Cup fold after an absence of 13 years when it finished fifth at home in Oradea. It was the best performance of four appearances, stretching back to the first iteration in 1979. Other outings were in 1997 and 2006.

Romania’s sheer dominance over China was exposed in that 9-1 run to late in the first half. Romania was 3-0 before China responded, closed at 5-1 for the first break, raced to 9-1 and then 10-2 at the long break. The third period was an even tussle as China appeared to wake up, converting three extra-man opportunities for 13-5 by the buzzer. Romania cruised to 18-7 and gave up two goals in the final minute.

Romania had eight different scorers in the first nine goals and 10 overall as China did not know which way to look. It suffered at two metres where the Romanian strength was all powerful, especially with Levente Jancsik ready to take what was on offer.

Match heroes:
In such a tight team performance, it is hard to single out one player, but it was probably Marius-Florin Tic in goal, saving nine of 16 in his time in the water. Andrei Neamtu and Vlad-Luca Georgescu scored three each. For China, Zhongxian Zhang was the best scorer with four, including three in the last quarter.

Turning point:
Going 9-1 at the start of a match is all consuming. No matter what China did, it could not stop the crescendo of goals.

Stats don’t lie:
Romania shot 28 to 24; converted five from six to China’s equally brilliant four from five and scored the only penalty goal. Romania made eight steals to four.

Bottom line:
Romania was impressive all around the pool as shown by its 10 goal-scorers and excellent goalkeeping. China can play at this level, but today it was missing in the first half.

Germany 12 Kazakhstan 1

With a certain amount of relief, former champion Germany returns to the World Cup level after a staggering 30-year non-attendance. Up until then it was a regular in the competition with seven appearances that included the title in 1985, a silver in 1983 and a bronze in 1987. Germany competed as the old Federal Republic of Germany up until 1989 and firstly as a combined nation in 1991. Ironically, Romania and Germany were both participants in the first World Cup of 1979.

Germany crushed Kazakhstan in a second qualification walkover. The one-sided match had little tension, except for the second quarter, which was scoreless. Kazakhstan’s Murat Shakenov sprayed the first penalty attempt, which could have given his team the lead. However, it was to be 23 minutes into the match before he scored the first Kazakh goal on extra-man attack.

By then, Germany had a 3-0 first-quarter-and-half lead and rifled home seven goals in six minutes for 10-0 in the third ahead of Kazakhstan’s response. The final quarter was a sedate 2-0 to Germany, including the fifth penalty strike. It was all about Germany and the victory that produced some history.

Match heroes:
Felix Benke nabbed the player-of-the-match award with his 10 saves in goal. Yannek Chiru and Mark Gansen emerged as the top shooters with three goals each.

Turning point:
10-0.

Stats don’t lie:
Germany was all over Kazakhstan with 29 shots to 20, five from five on penalty to one Kazakhstan miss. The extra-man count was not pretty with Germany converting one from four and Kazakhstan one from six. With the steals, Germany was well ahead 11-4.

Bottom line:
Germany certainly made a statement for the home crowd and years of being in the wilderness in the World Cup are now officially over. This victory might also give the team impetus in a European Championship year. Kazakhstan will now need to look at the Asian Games to regain some form and go for the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification spot on offer.  

Classification 5-6

Malta 9 Iran 15

Iran shut out Malta for 15 minutes in the middle of the match to secure fifth position. It was 2-2 after the first period, then Malta went 4-2 and 5-3 ahead by 3:36 of the second quarter. That’s where the pain started for Malta as Iran mounted its horse and charged into the match with a nine-goal surge that took the halftime lead at 6-5, the final break at 9-5 and 12-5 into the fourth. Malta returned to the match with three of the next four goals, including the third and fourth strikes for Liam Galea.

When Hamed Malek Khanbanan scored his fourth on extra and Mehdi Yazdankhah netted his fifth from the deep right and ninth for the week, it was 15-8. The last hurrah came from Jeremy Abela at centre forward for Malta.

Match heroes:
Yazdankhah was named player of the match for Iran in what was a fabulous team effort, although his centre-forward tip-on for 10-5 was typical of his abilities. Galea gained three of his four from the two-metre mark.

Turning point:
Coming from two down (5-3) midway through the second to 12-5 ahead midway through the fourth quarter.

Stats don’t lie:
Iran had 30 shots to 24; sent in six from nine on extra and defended four of five; each team converted a penalty foul and with the steals, Iran edged Malta 9-8.

Bottom line:
Iran had the shooting finesse, all players blending well, especially on the man-up situation. This experience would serve the nation well in this year’s Asian Games. Malta leaves with just the one win against South Africa and a first-up visit to World Aquatics World Cup level.

Classification 7-8

South Africa 9 New Zealand 7

South Africa  concentrated heavily on defence, according to player-of-the-match Joshua Faber. It worked with superior blocking and defending four of seven extra-man attempts by the South Africans who converted three from four. South Africa’s attack was not a problem as it turned the 1-0 deficit into 3-1 by quarter time, 4-2 by halftime and 7-4 at the final break. The score then went to 9-4 with the Kiwis netting three in the last three minutes.

South Africa looked more confident and used plenty of shooters while New Zealand relied heavily on powerful outside shooter Keegan Wicken who scored four goals from 10 attempts and a team-high 13 goals for the week, which represented more than third of the country’s tally.

Match heroes:
Wicken (above) with his defiant role in the Kiwi line-up and Faber, whose three from seven attempts set up the South African victory. Matthew Taylor made eight saves in goal for New Zealand and Lwazi Madi seven for the Africans.

Turning point:
The three consecutive goals that pulled South Africa from one down to 3-1 at the first break.

Stats don’t lie:
Perhaps they do lie. The Kiwis shot 33 times to 20, but could not reach the back of the net enough times. South Africa converted three from four on extra-man attack and New Zealand three from seven. South Africa converted the only penalty foul. On steals, South Africa led 6-5, but it was blocks that were telling, South Africa making seven to none.

Bottom line:
South Africa can be proud of its effort and will take this experience to the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka where it might meet up with New Zealand again.

Final Classifications

Qualifiers for Finals Series: Romania and Germany. Losing semifinalists: Kazakhstan and China. Iran 5, Malta 6, South Africa 7 New Zealand 8.