SEO title: Spain and Greece impress on Day 2 of U18 Women’s Water Polo World Championships
Spain and Greece produced two of the biggest performances of the second day at the World Aquatics U18 Women’s Water Polo Championships, while Hungary maintained their perfect start and China bounced back strongly from an opening defeat.
Greece delivered the most emphatic result among the leading nations, defeating Italy 21-11 in Group A. An extraordinary 8-1 opening quarter effectively decided the contest, with Androniki Karagianni scoring four times and Emmanouela Kapetopoulou and Afroditi Bitsakou adding three each.
Italy recovered to make the remainder of the game considerably more competitive, but Greece had already established an advantage that proved impossible to overturn. Malika Bovo led Italy with five goals.
Hungary also moved onto six points in Group A after defeating the Netherlands 13-10. The Hungarians repeatedly created separation before the Dutch fought their way back into contention, but two late goals stretched an 11-9 advantage to four and effectively secured the victory.
Captain Kincso Kenez and Mandula Mihok both scored four times for Hungary, who joined Greece on maximum points ahead of the meeting between the two sides.
Spain also made it two wins from two, overcoming the United States 16-11 after an entertaining contest. The Americans led 8-7 at half-time and moved two goals ahead early in the third quarter, but Spain responded emphatically.
Marina Munoz helped inspire the turnaround as the hosts transformed a 10-10 scoreline into a 13-10 advantage before pulling clear in the final quarter. Munoz finished with four goals, while Ona Jurado, Martina Fernandez and Paula Frigola scored three each.
China responded to their opening 10-goal defeat against the USA with an impressive 16-10 victory over Croatia. Zhang Jingwen starred with seven goals as China produced a five-goal run in the fourth quarter to turn a narrow 10-9 advantage into a commanding 15-9 lead.
Elsewhere, Canada edged Germany 11-10 in one of the closest games of the day, while Serbia held off Brazil 12-11. Turkiye recovered from a 9-8 half-time deficit to beat Colombia 19-14, and Israel recorded a comfortable 19-5 victory over Zimbabwe.
Results
Group A
Hungary 13-10 Netherlands
Greece 21-11 Italy
Group B
China 16-10 Croatia
Spain 16-11 United States
Group C
Turkiye 19-14 Colombia
Group D
Canada 11-10 Germany
Group E
Israel 19-5 Zimbabwe
Group F
Serbia 12-11 Brazil
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