The European preliminaries of the FINA Men's Water Polo World League 2019 went underway in various European cities on Tuesday February 19, as five games were played.
Group A's leader Hungary narrowly beat the Russia by two goals (10-8), giving the Hungarians their fifth victory since the beginning of the season. Russia still offered a great defence with a tied second quarter (4-1, 2-2, 3-2, 1-3).
Group B's leader Greece defeated the Dutch 12-6, with a decisive last quarter (3-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0). Greece has won four of its five games so far, while the Netherlands have won two and lost three games. In the second game of group B, Spain crushed Ukraine 17-2 , giving no chance to the latter in the first and last quarters (1-0, 5-1, 4-1, 7-0).
Italy and France battled it out in group C's only match, but Italy ended triumphing 6-4 (2-1, 2-2, 2-1, 0-0). Italy has 10 points and has won four games so far.
Serbia defeated Romania 13-6 despite the efforts provided by the latter squad in the last quarter (3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 2-2).
Rankings after Game Day 5:
GROUP A: 1. Hungary 14 pts; Russia 9 pts; Germany 7 pts; Malta 0
GROUP B: 1. Greece 12 pts; Spain 12 pts; Netherlands 6 pts; Ukraine 0
GROUP C: 1. Italy 10 pts; Montenegro 5 pts; France 0
GROUP D: 1. Serbia 8 pts; Croatia 7 pts; Romania 0
The next and final men's Game Day will be on March 12, schedule available here, before the best teams meet for the Europa Cup Final to be held in Zagreb (CRO) from April 5-7.
The women's European preliminaries resumes on March 5 with three Games (GREvsESP, HUNvsITA, NEDvsFRA)
You can follow the pool action and watch most games LIVE streamed or VOD on FINAtv.