Water Polo London 2012: Olympic Games Qualification Tournament

Water Polo London 2012: Montenegro wins OGQT with powerful finish over Spain

Russell McKinnon, FINA Press Commission Member

Edmonton (April 8) — Montenegro swam away with the Olympic Games Qualification Tournament for men in Edmonton, beating Spain 12-9 in the final. It was the manner in which Montenegro won the match that belied the fact the last two days were dead rubbers. Spain also played to the higher level and stayed in touch at the first two breaks but could not contain the bigger and rocket-shooting opposition. Montenegro only led by a goal at the first two breaks but managed to gain a three-goal margin heading into the final quarter. Montenegro shared around the goal-scoring befitting a team of high achievers and excellent shooters. Alexander IVOVIC and Mladan JANOVIC both top-scored their team with 17 goals for the tournament.

Felipe PERRONE scored three goals in the final and finished with 18 goals in second-equal position with Greece’s Ioannis FOUNTOULIS, who missed the third-placed play-off with an injured right foot.

Greece finished third, as expected, fending off a determined Romania 14-10. Captain Cosmin RADU led his team from the front with five goals to finish as the tournament’s highest scorer with 21 goals. Greece made the four-goal break in the second quarter and, despite a Romanian comeback to 11-9 at the start of the fourth, soon re-established supremacy.

Canada scored an exciting 11-10 victory over the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, having led 4-0 in the first quarter and then squandering the lead in the dying minutes. It was left to “King” Con KUDABA to fire in two unexpected goals in the last 65 seconds to rob the Macedonians of what became the first-reserve position for the Olympics with fifth place.

Turkey claimed seventh place with a 16-12 victory over Brazil, with captain Oytun OKMAN scoring three goals to lift his tally to 12 for the tournament.

Match Reports:

Game 39: 13:00, Classification 7-8, TURKEY 16 BRAZIL 12
Quarters: 5-2, 3-4, 3-2, 5-4
Referees: Nikolaos VASILEIOU (GRE), Risto DAMCEVSKI (MKD)
Extra Man: TUR: 3/8. BRA: 5/15
Teams:
TURKEY: Atilla SEZER, Ali Can YILMAZ, Berk BIYIK (3), Oytun OKMAN © (3), Berk GUNCUT (1), Emre COSKUN (2), Osman GULENG, Ali Can GAGATAY (1), Nadir SUNMEZ (1), Anil SUNMEZ, Halil BESKARDESLER (2), Can GUVEN (3), Ali Ozcan KILIG. Head Coach: Halil AVCIOGLU.
BRAZIL: Vinicius ANTONELLI, Bernardo GOMES, Henrique MIRANDA (1), Gustavo COUTINHO (2), Marcelo FRANCO (1), Gabriel ROCHA (3), Jonas CRIVELLA (1), Felipe SILVA (1), Bernardo ROCHA (1), Ruda FRANCO (1), Gustavo GUIMARAES (1), Danilo CORREA, Marcelo CHAGAS. Head Coach: Goran SABLIC.

It was the second time these two teams met in the tournament with it being an 11-11 result in the rounds. Today, Turkey seemed to be the team that arrived for action, slowly building to a 7-3 lead before Brazil recovered to score three of the next four goals. Gabriel ROCHA (BRA) had three to lift his tally for the tournament to 13. Turkey shifted to an 11-6 lead but MIRANDA and Marcelo FRANCO brought it back to 11-8 by the final break. Turkey slipped out to 13-9 but CRIVELLA and GUIMARAES closed the game to 13-11 at 5:25. COSKUN scored from centre forward but Bernardo ROCHA brought the game to two again at 4:00. GUVEN pushed in a rebound and OKMAN scored his third on a huge counter to close the scoring at 2:59. He finished with 12 goals for the tournament, the same as team-mate GAGATAY. Turkey deserved seventh place.

FLASH QUOTES:
Oytun OKMAN (TUR) — Captain — Three goals
On the seventh-place finish: “The result that we get is the result that we expected in the beginning… seventh place in this kind of tournament is good and it shows that we are improving our sport.”

Can GUVAN (TUR) — Three goals
On Turkey’s performance: “It’s good for us, it’s OK, because we had missing players. We had some other problems. But, overall it feels good at the end.”

Gustavo COUTINHO (BRA) — Two goals
On hosting the Olympic tournament in Rio de Janeiro  in 2016: “We have to organise ourselves better. That’s where we have to start. Then, it’s an evolution. You can’t win the gold medal your first time at the Olympics so we have to take it step by step.”
On the impact of hosting the next Olympic Games: “It’s more pressure, more motivation, it’s both of them because you have to represent your country. That makes you do better, to play better, and practise better for the (Olympic) championship.”

Game 40: 14:20, Classification 5-6, CANADA 11 FYR of MACEDONIA 10
Quarters: 4-0, 2-3, 2-3, 3-4
Referees:  Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU), Jose WERNER (BRA)
Extra Man: CAN: 3/6. MKD: 1/9.
Pens: CAN: 1/1. MKD: 1/1
Teams:
CANADA: Robin RANDALL, Constantin KUDABA (2), Oliver VIKALO (1), Nicolas CONSTANTIN-BICARI, Justin BOYD (2), Scott ROBINSON, Luka GASIC (2), John CONWAY (1), Devon DIGGLE (1), Jared McELROY (2), Dusan ALEKSIC. Head Coach: Dragan JOVANOVIC.
FORMER YUGOSLAVIAN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: Milosh MARINKOVIKS, Mateo CUK (1), Srgjan AKSENTIJEVIC, Petar IVOSEVIC, Ivan BASARA (1), Igor MILANOVIKS, Marko MARTINIC (2), Dimitar DIMOVSKI (1), Miroslav RANDJIKS (4), Cupic VOJISLAV, Boris LETICA, Daniel BENIKS © (1), Dalibor PERCHINIKJ. Head Coach: Sasho POPOVSKI.

Canada’s KUDABA scored twice in seven matches before the play-off match but he doubled his score with the two most important goals of the match in the last 65 seconds. In an intriguing match where Canada led 4-1 only to have that whittled, equalled and then trailing, KUDABA was the man for the moment. When RANDIJKJ scored his fourth for 10-9 at 1:45, it was only the second lead of the game for the Macedonians. Then KUDABA stood up and when deep right he sent the ball into the top right corner of the goal for 120-10. The Macedonians lost the ball on the next attack and the ball came to KUDABA, who wasted no time with a shot from nine metres for the winning goal. MKD went on to attack and AKSENTIJEVIC took the shot to hopefully force the game to extra time but it was saved by Canadian keeper ALEKSIC, sending the large crowd into raptures. Canada had secured the first reserve spot for the Olympic Games. Not bad, considering Canada played without captain Aaron FELTHAM, who was sitting out with an upper-body injury, and fellow star Kevin GRAHAM, who had been called back to his Hungarian club team in preparation for semifinals starting on April 10.

FLASH QUOTES:
Constantine KUDABA (CAN) – Scored Canada’s last two goals
On his tying and winning goals: “It’s been a long tournament and I’ve missed a lot of shots, so it was nice to get two at the end.”
On the progress that Canada is making in international water polo: “We’re just more excited for the next tournament. Each game is closer and closer against these teams that used to beat us pretty handily. It’s going to be an exciting summer regardless of not going to London.”

Dusan ALEKSIC (CAN) — Goalkeeper
On making the final save to preserve the win for Canada: “It feels awesome, I mean, it feels great. I don’t get the chance to play these matches very often since I’m the back-up goalie. It was really exciting for me.”

Sasho POPOVSKI (MKD) — Head coach
On the match: “We managed to come back from 4-0 down and we had the game to win. Two stupid mistakes with goals from a distance. Both teams played very well but not 100 percent. It was out eighth game and we were tired and there was no pressure.”
On the tournament: “Our best game was against Spain, We stuck it well. Spain had a 4-1 advantage but we missed several chances.”

Igor MILANOVIKS
On why MKD lost: “The first half was very bad. We had a bad attack. The difference was we let in their outside shooting. The second half we came back and had a good position but we lost it in the last few minutes. We got back to 10-10 but after that we did nothing and let in that easy goal at the end.”

Game 41: 15:40, Classification 3-4, GREECE 14 ROMANIA 10
Quarters: 4-3, 6-2, 1-2, 3-2
Referees: Nenad PERIS (CRO), Steven ROTSART (USA)
Extra Man: GRE: 6/12. ROU: 3/7
Pen: GRE: 1/1
Teams:
GREECE: Emmanouil MYLONAKIS, Andreas MIRALIS (3), Konstantinos KOKKINAKIS (2), Theodoros CHATZITHEODOROU, Argyris THEODOROPOULOS (2), Christos AFROUDAKIS (1), Evangelos DELAKAS (3), Georgios AFROUDAKIS © (1), Ioannis FOUNTOULIS, Konstantinos MOURIKIS (1), Matthaios VOULGARAKIS (1), Filippos KARAMPETSOS. Head Coach: Dragan ANDRIC.
ROMANIA: Dragos STOENESCU, Cosmin RADU © (5), Tiberiu NEGREAN, Nicolae DIACONU, Andrei IOSEP (1), Andrei BUSILA, Alexandru MATEI GUIMAN (1), Mihnea CHIOVEANU, Dimitri GOANTA, Ramiro GEORGESCU (1), Alexandru GHIBAN (2), Kalman KADAR, Mihai DRAGUSIN. Head Coach: Istvan KOVACS.

Greece played a high-pressure game as it has throughout the tournament, securing third place, which is a good pointer ahead of the Olympic Games. Romania proved an opponent equal to the task and stuck close, coming back from 2-0 to 4-3 and 11-9 at the start of the fourth period. This became 12-10 but THEODOROPOULOS with his second of the quarter and MIRALIS with his third of the match. The big pressure came from Romanian captain RADU with five goals, one a gift from in front when he collected a rebound out of the air at two metres, baulked and scored for what was his fifth, one of only three goals in the third period. It was a total team effort by the Greeks and a thoroughly deserved victory. Greece went 8-4 ahead in the second quarter and maintained the four-goal margin until the long break. The spirit of Romania was also evident but the accent was heavily on RADU to score the goals. Greece was playing without regular goalkeeper Nico DELIGIANNIS, who was suspended for one match by FINA for his indiscretions the day before. Also missing from the water but sitting on the bench with his right ankle strapped was Ioannis FOUNTOULIS, the leading scorer at the start of the day. He stayed dry throughout the match.

FLASH QUOTES:
Dragan ANDRIC (GRE) — Head coach
On his team’s performance at the Olympic Qualification Tournament: “Every day we are better and better. And I’m satisfied with our work here. The most important thing, of course, was to finish in the top four and earn a visit to London.”
On the value of the experience: “This is the way how you build a team. It’s very important to live an experience like this and to be stronger after this tournament. I believe that we are stronger… I know that others in water polo are starting to recognise our progress and they start to take us seriously.”

Alexandru GHIBAN (ROU) — Two goals
On the match: “We’re not happy because we lost the game but it was difficult to concentrate because we have already qualified for the Olympic Games. So, we tried to do our best, but this was the result.”

Cosmin RADU (ROU) — Captain — Five goals
On qualifying for the Olympics: “It’s a unique feeling. That’s the best way to put it. For us as Romanians, the last time we were there was 16 years ago, so it’s pretty rough to get there. That’s why I think it’s pretty special.”
On Romania’s chances in London: “First of all, it depends on the groups… (but) at some level, we’re all the same. So, it depends on the form we’re in at the right moment.”

Game 42, 17:00, Classification 1-2, MONTENEGRO 12 SPAIN 9
Quarters: 3-2, 2-2, 4-2, 3-3
Referees: Filippo GOMEZ (ITA), Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS)
Extra Man: MNE: 6/11. ESP: 2/10
Pens: MNE: 1/1
Teams:
MONTENEGRO: Zdravko RADIC, Drasko BRGULJAN, Vjekoslav PASKOVIC (3), Antonio PETROVIC, Filip KLIKOVAC, Aleksandar RADOVIC (2), Mladan JANOVIC (3), Nikola JANOVIC ©, Aleksandar IVOVIC (1), Boris ZLOKOVIC (1), Vladimir GOJKOVIC (1), Predrag JOKIC (1), Mikos SCEPANOVIC. Head Coach: Vido LOMPAR.
SPAIN: Inaki AGUILAR, Mario GARCIA, Oscar CARRILLO, Balazs SZIRANYI, Guillermo MOLINA © (1), Marc MINGUELL, Ivan GALLEGO, Albert ESPANOL (1), Blai MALLARACH (1), Felipe PERRONE (3), Ivan PEREZ, Javier GARCIA (3), Daniel LOPEZ. Head Coach: Rafael AGUILAR.

There was never any doubt that Montenegro would win this tournament and the chances are that the second-ranked European nation could take home an Olympic medal in London. The way in which Montenegro played was testament to their abilities and the fine coaching of Vido LOMPAR. Montenegro was calm, incisive and packed an explosive charge that exploded in the final. Spain was stunned at times but picked up and battled head to head to the end. While Saturday’s Montenegro-Greece was probably the game of the tournament, this was the second best by far. Montenegro struggled to get away from Spain, leading by one goal after the first and second quarters. While Montenegro slipped out to 7-4 up early in the third, PERRONE and MALLARACH brought the game back to one. However, IVOVIC, Mladan JANOVIC and JOKIC scored the next three covering the final break for 10-6. Goals were traded and PERRONE scored the tournament’s final goal just over two minutes from time. Defence finished the final minutes and a fine tournament came to a close.

FLASH QUOTES:
Nikola JANOVIC (MNE) — Team captain
On the match: “We’re very happy because we played well in this match and through the whole championship and, of course, because we are going to the Olympic Games.”
On his expectations for London: “We can play even better than this… We expect a medal (in London). We are one of the best teams in the world.”

Boris ZLOKOVIC (MNE) — One goal
On the match: “For us it was important to win and take the gold medal because… we are from a very small country of only 600,000 people so it’s a very big success to go to the Olympic Games.”
On his expectations for the Olympics: “We are not going only to see how it is, we want to go and play good water polo. And I think we have big possibilities to take one of the medals.”

Felipe PERRONE (ESP) — Three goals
On preparations for London: “We have to work a lot. The Olympic Games is the most important moment in the four years to every sport and to every athlete so we will be working a lot…. I think we need to go step by step.”

LEADING SCORERS:
Cosmin RADU (ROU), 21
Ioannis FOUNTOULIS (GRE), 18
Felipe PERRONE (ESP), 18
Aleksandar IVOVIC (MNE), 17
Mladan JANOVIC (MNE), 17
Christos AFROUDAKIS (GRE), 16
Guillermo MOLINA (ESP), 15
Gabriel ROCHA (BRA), 13
Nicolas CONSTANTIN-BICARI (CAN), 12
Miroslav RANDJIKJ (MKD), 12
Georgios AFROUDAKIS (GRE), 12
Ali Can GAGATAY (TUR), 12
Oytun OKMAN (TUR), 12

(fina)

WP London 2012: Olympic qualifier

Turki vs Kanada

Rumania vs Spanyol

Montenegro vs Inggris

Brazil vs Makedonia

WP London 2012: Montenegro and Spain rise to the top of Olympic qualifier

Russell McKInnon, FINA Press Commission Member

Edmonton (April 7) — Montenegro will play Spain in the final of the men’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament at the Kinsmen Sports Centre here today. Following an incredible 13-12 overtime victory against Greece in their semifinal, Montenegro will be out for an unbeaten streak against Spain on Sunday.

The Montenegrins had to over a 6-1 deficit midway through the second quarter to trail by just two goals at halftime. It became 8-8 at the final break and it was left to Greek captain Georgios AFROUDAKIS to score a breakaway goal to level the game at 1:24 to see the game into overtime.

Greece took control with a 2-1 first period but the wily Vladimir GOJKOVIC and power centre forward Boris ZLOKOVIC made sure of victory with a 2-0 period.

The key to the victory was Mladan JANOVIC, who scored five goals, including two in the fourth quarter. Greece lost some of its defensive power when regular goalkeeper and three-time Olympian Nikolaos DELIGIANNIS, who gave up a penalty foul for messing with the goal at the stroke of halftime, was red-carded for misconduct.

Spain took a 6-2 halftime lead and converted it to 9-5 by the final break en route to a 10-6 victory. Tiberiu NEGREAN scored three goals for Romania in the third period but Felipe PERRONE scored two of his three goals in the dying stages.

Final placings on Sunday will decide on what level of the draw teams will be placed ahead of the May 5 draw in London.

In the round of 5-8, Canada beat Turkey 12-7 after leading just 8-6 at three-quarter time and the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia downed Brazil 15-12 in what was a tight encounter throughout.

Sunday roster:
13:00, 7th & 8th, TUR v BRA
14:20, 5th & 6th, CAN v MKD
15:40, 3rd & 4th, GRE v ROU
17:00, 1st & 2nd, MNE v ESP

Match Reports:

Game 35: 13:00, 5-8 Semifinal, TURKEY 7 CANADA 12
Quarters: 3-4, 1-3, 2-1, 1-4
Referees: Risto DAMCEVSKI (MKD) Henk SMIT (NED)
Extra Man: TUR: 1/7.  CAN: 4/11
Pens: TUR: 1/1
Teams:
TURKEY: Atilla SEZER, Ali Can YILMAZ, Berk BIYIK (1), Oytun OKMAN © (2), Berk GUNCUT (1), Emre COSKUN (1), Osman GULENG, Ali Can GAGATAY (1), Nadir SUNMEZ, Anil SUNMEZ (1), Halil BESKARDESLER, Can GUVEN, Ali Ozcan KILIG. Head Coach: Halil AVCIOGLU.
CANADA: Robin RANDALL, Constantin KUDABA, Oliver VIKALO (2), Nicolas CONSTANTIN-BICARI (3), Justin BOYD (1), Scott ROBINSON, Luka GASIC (1), Kevin GRAHAM (1), Aaron FELTHAM, John CONWAY (2), Devon DIGGLE (1), Jared McELROY (1), Dusan ALEKSIC. Head Coach: Dragan JOVANOVIC.

This game did not reach the heights of the previous encounter when Canada won 14-5. Turkey looked better but Canada did not play with the same intensity as the previous night’s loss to Greece in the quarter-finals. Mistakes crept in but a win is a win and it puts Canada into the important play-off for fifth, a result that could have ramifications should a team withdraw from the Olympic Games. Turkish captain OKMAN key his team close with two goals in the first quarter, including one 11 seconds from time. Canada gained the edge with three counter-attack goals in the second stanza but Turkey won the third with GUNKUT sending in a “donut” on counter for Turkey. Canada won the game with the first three goals of the final quarter. The Turkish players were in near revolt in the final quarter, venting their rage by leaving their bench constantly and gesturing to the referees.

FLASH QUOTES:
Halil AVCIOGLU (TUR) — Head Coach
On the game: “We had a Macedonian referee when we are playing a game where we hope to play Macedonia for fifth place. It is not possible.”
On the Macedonian team: “I have to congratulate my players for a tough game. We had the ambition to win but the referees kept destroying the game with some funny whistles. They didn’t whistle a penalty for OKMAN but gave an exclusion instead yet called us for a penalty when the player had his back to the goal. It’s not a good advertisement for water polo.”

Oytun OKMAN (TUR) — Captain
On the match: “We would like to have got fifth place (in Edmonton) as the fifth team, should any team withdraw for any reason has a chance to go to the Olympic Games.”
On the Canadians: “Unfortunately, they were a little better than us. I hope they get fifth and have a chance to get to the Olympics.”
On why Turkey was not good enough: “We didn’t practise enough. After the Europeans we had 15 days off. We didn’t prepare enough and we are not as good as the Canadians.”

Kevin GRAHAM (CAN) — Two goals
On having to play the day after losing an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics: “We just wanted to come out today and respect ourselves and the hard work we’ve put in, and respect our fans that come out and cheer for us, and just get a win.”
On the physical nature of the match: “We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. These games rarely are. They’re usually kind of ‘bruiser-fests’ like it was today.”

Dusan ALEKSIC (CAN) — Goalkeeper
On starting his first match of the tournament: “It was really exciting for me because I haven’t played a lot this tournament...it was something that I had been waiting for. It was awesome.”
On rebounding after Friday’s quarter-final loss to Greece: “It’s definitely a step forward. We had to win this game, no matter what. So, it’s definitely a step up from yesterday.”

Game 36: 14:20, 5-8 Semifinal, BRAZIL 12 FYR of MACEDONIA 15
Quarters: 2-3, 2-4, 4-3, 4-5
Referees: Cem FILIKSAC (TUR), Aleksandar ADZIC (MNE)
Extra Man: BRA: 5/8. MKD: 6/8
Teams:
BRAZIL: Vinicius ANTONELLI, Bernardo GOMES, Henrique MIRANDA (1), Gustavo COUTINHO, Marcelo FRANCO, Gabriel ROCHA (2), Jonas CRIVELLA (1), Felipe SILVA (4), Bernardo ROCHA, Ruda FRANCO (2), Gustavo GUIMARAES (2), Danilo CORREA, Marcelo CHAGAS. Head Coach: Goran SABLIC.
FORMER YUGOSLAVIAN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: Milosh MARINKOVIKS, Mateo CUK (2), Srgjan AKSENTIJEVIC (2), Petar IVOSEVIC (1), Ivan BASARA (1), Igor MILANOVIKS, Marko MARTINIC (2), Dimitar DIMOVSKI, Miroslav RANDJIKS (2), Vojislav CUPIC (1), Boris LETICA (2), Daniel BENIKS ©, Dalibor PERCHINIKJ. Head Coach: Sasho POPOVSKI.

A game that delivers 27 goals must be exciting and this was the case between two even teams, although it looked like the Macedonians would always come out on top.  The edge was there at the first quarter but it could have been two if SILVA hadn’t sent in his buzzer-beater. The lead stretched to 6-3 but Ruda FRANCO pulled it back to 6-4 and SILVA scored his second for 7-5 soon after halftime. By now CUK and AKSENTIJEVIC had scored consecutive goals, the former in the first quarter and the latter in the second. Twice Brazil drew within one goal in the third period with SILVA claiming his third at 9-8. MIRANDA brought it back to one at the top of the fourth after LETICA’s goal in the last second of the third period, GUIMARAES did the same after another LETICA goal. The die was cast when the Macedonians scored four straight in five minutes for 15-10 before Brazil scored two in the final minute.

FLASH QUOTES:
Felipe SILVA (BRA) — Top scorer with four goals
On the match: “We knew in the beginning it would be a hard game. They are really strong and big and tall… they are very experienced players… but we tried right to the end and I think that’s important.”
On Brazil’s level of preparation: “We didn’t prepare very good for the championship, so this is a good result for us.”

Boris LETICA (MKD) — Two goals
On rebounding after the quarter-final loss on Friday: “The match was very difficult because we needed to motivate ourselves for another game after yesterday. This is not as important a match, so that’s the difficulty.”
On the challenge of playing tired: “We talked about it before the game that we would have a lot of problems with the defence because we are tired. It’s the sixth game in a row. We tried to play as best we can but, in the end, I think we could have won by more goals.”

Game 37: 15:40, 1-4 Semifinal, MONTENEGRO 13 GREECE 12 in extra time (FT: 10-10)
Quarters: 0-2, 5-5, 3-1, 2-2, 1-2, 2-0
Referees: Doriel TERPENKA (CAN), Filippo GOMEZ (ITA)
Extra Man: MNE: 3/11. GRE: 5/14
Penalties: MNE: 3/3. GRE: 1/1
Teams:
MONTENEGRO: Zdravko RADIC, Drasko BRGULJAN, Vjekoslav PASKOVIC (1), Antonio PETROVIC, Filip KLIKOVAC, Aleksandar RADOVIC (2), Mladan JANOVIC (5), Nikola JANOVIC © (2), Aleksandar IVOVIC (1), Boris ZLOKOVIC (1), Vladimir GOJKOVIC (1), Predrag JOKIC, Mikos SCEPANOVIC. Head Coach: Vido LOMPAR.
GREECE: Nikolaos DELIGIANNIS, Emmanouil MYLONAKIS (1), Andreas MIRALIS (1), Konstantinos KOKKINAKIS, Theodoros CHATZITHEODOROU, Argyris THEODOROPOULOS (1), Christos AFROUDAKIS, (1) Evangelos DELAKAS (1), Georgios AFROUDAKIS ©, (1) Iannis FOUNTOULIS (4), Konstantinos MOURIKIS (2), Matthaios VOULGARAKIS, Filippos KARAMPETSOS. Head Coach: Dragan ANDRIC.

This thrilling match, easily the best of the tournament, was a testament to Greece’s resurgence in the sport internationally but equally to Montenegro’s ability to come back from a seemingly impossible 6-1 disadvantage to win. With Olympic participation assured, it was time for pride and a top-two finish the prize. It took until the start of the second quarter for Montenegro to score its first goal via Mladan JANOVIC, who went on to score so many and bring Montenegro back into the game. But everyone was stunned when Greece went 6-1 ahead with MOURIKIS scoring twice. Montenegro went to a timeout and it worked, with three successive goals bringing the score back to 6-4. Goals were traded with Mladan JANOVIC taking his second on penalty four seconds from halftime when Greek goalkeeper DELIGIANNIS was called for moving the goal on the shot (pictured). DELIGIANNIS protested too much and was red-carded from the game. RADOVIC brought it back to one goal at the start of the third after Greece missed an open goal with a wayward lob but FOUNTOULIS responded with a goal from deep left. Mladan and older brother and captain Nikola JANOVIC netted the next two to level the game at 8-8 midway through the third and the last goals of the period. DELAKAS broke the deadlock on extra off a near-post post but Mladan JANOVIC turned the tide with  a goal on extra from the deep left and then with a missile from the top for 10-9. Georgios AFROUDAKIS broke free and goalkeeper KARAMPETSOS fired a perfect pass 25 metres upfield for his captain to score at 1:24. Greece and Montenegro took timeouts inside the final 40 seconds to no avail, forcing the game into overtime. FOUNTOULIS screamed one in from the top; IVOVIC responded and converted extra after IVOVIC left the game. Greece had the advantage going into the second half of extra time. GOJKOVIC scored on extra, electing not to pass to a half chance in front of goal but instead score from deep right on an acute angle. Greece missed an opportunity on extra but with 40 seconds remaining, ZLOKOVIC scored a textbook goal from centre forward to win the game.

FLASH QUOTES:
Mladan JANOVIC (MNE) — Five goals
On the match: “Look, it’s semifinals, so we knew it would be a difficult game.”
On his desire to see Montenegro win the tournament: “We’re reached our target to make the final. Now there’s one more step to win the tournament… I hope we win because it’s good for our atmosphere and good for our team.”

Ioannis FOUNTOULIS (GRE) — Four goals
On the match: “We started very well with a 6-1 lead. After, I think, in my opinion, some referee decisions turned the game against us.”
On being ready for tomorrow’s bronze-medal match: “Now it’s time to have a little bit of fun. All of the previous games had a lot of stress. But now that we’ve reached our target, it’s really fun to play against good teams with no stress.”

Game 38, 17:00, 1-4 Semifinal, ROMANIA 6 SPAIN 10
Quarters: 1-3, 1-3, 3-3, 1-1
Referees: Axel BENDER (GER), Steven ROTSART (USA)
Extra Man: ROU: 2/11. ESP: 4/12
Pens: ESP: 0/1
Teams:
ROMANIA: Dragos STOENESCU, Cosmin RADU ©, Tiberiu NEGREAN (3), Nicolae DIACONU, Andrei IOSEP (1), Andrei BUSILA, Alexandru MATEI GUIMAN, Mihnea CHIOVEANU (1), Dimitri GOANTA, Ramiro GEORGESCU (1), Alexandru GHIBAN, Kalman KADAR, Mihai DRAGUSIN. Head Coach: Istvan KOVACS.
SPAIN: Inaki AGUILAR, Mario GARCIA (1), Oscar CARRILLO, Balazs SZIRANYI, (1) Guillermo MOLINA © (1), Marc MINGUELL (1), Ivan GALLEGO, Albert ESPANOL, Blai MALLARACH (1), Felipe PERRONE (3), Ivan PEREZ, Javier GARCIA (2), Daniel LOPEZ. Head Coach: Rafael AGUILAR.

This match was a far cry of the previous semifinal with a quieter crowd as the Spanish went about their duty of winning the game and setting up a cracker of a final against Montenegro. By early in the second quarter it was 5-1 to Spain, reminiscent of the previous match but no fairy tale ending for the Romanians. NEGREAN, who scored three goals in the third period, gave some life to the Romanian attack but the margin was 8-5 and PERRONE snared a second to close the third period at 9-5. CHIOVEANU was left wide open at centre forward to score at 3:07 to lift the Romanian spectators to their feet and their vocal chords to a higher decibel. PERRONE made that short-lived when he scored on extra on the next attack. CARILLO should have closed the scoring with 40 seconds remaining but he had the shot blocked by STOENESCU.

FLASH QUOTES:
Tiberiu NEGREAN (ROU) — Three goals
On the team’s sluggish performance: “We are very tired because we have already qualified for the Olympic Games and we had a big party last night. So, today we didn’t play so good. But, we are happy that we’re going to London.”

Nicolae DIACONU (ROU)
On the match: “It was a little bit hard because our most important game was yesterday and we gave everything to win that one. After, we celebrated a little bit, so it was difficult this game today.”

Javier GARCIA (ESP) — Two goals
On achieving Spain’s main objective: “All the teams came here to qualify for the Olympic Games as the main objective. So, we’re very happy to have done that.”

(fina)

the Olympic Games Qualification Tournament, London 2012

WP London 2012: Macedonians upset Germany and force way into Olympic contention Russell McKinnon, FINA Press Commission Member

Edmonton (POLOAIR INDONESIA) — Montenegro and Spain won through to the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games Qualification Tournament for men by winning their respective groups undefeated at the Kinsmen Sports Centre here. But the real action on day five was in the second game of the day when Germany forgot to bring its A game against the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. After leading 4-2 early in the third period, Germany’s goals dried up, the extra-man advantage conversion rate was none from eight and the Macedonians smelled blood and went in for the kill. 

MKD, thanks to three Miroslav RANDJIKJ goals, including the last two of the game — scored late in the third quarter — held out the hapless Germans and denied them a shot at the quarter-finals with a 6-4 victory. MKD had snuck into the quarters on the strength of that match, finishing with four points, equal to Germany, but finishing ahead on the first tiebreak, the result between the two. A stunned auditorium was left aghast at the result of the 10th-placed team from the Beijing Olympics not having a shot on day six of this competition. Not at London is one thing, but not even in the quarter-finals of the qualification tournament is another.

The reason for captain Marc POLITZE not seeing out the game even though he only had two major fouls is a big question that went unanswered as the distraught Germans went heads bowed to the changing rooms. Only star centre forward Andreas SCHLOTTERBECK stopped to talk, stating that his international playing days could be numbered with no Olympic Games to inspire him.

With Montenegro defeating Romania 14-8 in the final Group A match, the Montenegrins went through undefeated and Romania claimed second, finishing on six points with Greece, whom it beat 10-9 on day two.  Greece thumped the Netherlands 14-5 in the first game of the day and looked set for second until the Macedonians came up trumps, having to settle for third. Macedonia was thrilled with fourth place.

In Group B, Spain downed Canada 9-6 in a  match that Canada led 4-3 at halftime and lost head coach Dragan JOVANOVIC to a red card inside the final four minutes after he kicked a poolside marker into the pool.

Brazil and Turkey battled to an 11-11 draw after Brazil held sway early at 5-1. That left some tantalising clashes in Friday’s quarter-finals with Montenegro facing Turkey; Romania up against Brazil; Greece against Canada and Macedonia playing Spain.  The four winners settle the final placings for London.

Match Reports:

Game 25: 14:20, Group A, GREECE 14 NETHERLANDS 5
Quarters: 2-1, 3-0, 4-1, 5-3
Referees: Doriel TERPENKA (CAN), Nenad PERIS (CRO)
Extra Man: GRE: 3/10. NED: 3/7
Pens: GRE: 1/2
Teams: GREECE: Nikolaos DELIGIANNIS, Emmanouil MYLONAKIS, Andreas MIRALIS, Konstantinos KOKKINAKIS, Theodoros CHATZITHEODOROU (1), Argyris THEODOROPOULOS (1), Christos AFROUDAKIS (4), Evangelos DELAKAS (1), Georgios AFROUDAKIS (2), Iannis FOUNTOULIS (3), Konstantinos MOURIKIS (2), Matthaios VOULGARAKIS, Filippos KARAMPETSOS. Head Coach: Dragan ANDRIC.
NETHERLANDS: Jordy STIL, Thomas LUCAS, Tjerk KRAMER , Mike VAN DEN BRINK, Luuk GIELEN, Robin LINDHOUT (2), Lars GOTTEMAKER (1). Richard VAN ECK (1), Ruud VAN DER HORST, Roeland SPIJKER, Tim REUTEN, Matthijs LUCAS (1), Robert BESKERS. Head Coach: Johan AANTJES.

Greece made sure of its intentions stretch further than this tournament with another powerful performance that left the Netherlands wanting. Goals were hard to come by but the spirit in some of the Dutch players was evident in the dying seconds when the ever-present GOTTEMAKER, who played the first half of the northern summer with WP Turia in the Spanish League, based in Valencia, stole the ball, whipped it across field to LINDHOUT who scored from 10 metres on the final buzzer to keep the margin under 10. But it was the AFROUDAKIS brothers who did the early scoring with the younger Christos going on to make four while captain Georgios scored two. Then there was FOUNTOULIS, one of the finds of the tournament who likes to score. Ne netted three and gives Greece a lot of potency from the top or on the drive. Dutch captain KRAMER earned the ire of the referees when he disagreed with a decision and proceeded to laugh at the referee, who had the last laugh when he produced his red card. It came at a crucial time of the game when Greece was four up. MIRALIS was given the penalty shot for KRAMER’s indiscretion but, although he scored, he surged forward a metre and it was disallowed. No matter. Greece was 5-1 up at the half and 9-2 at the final break. Eight goals in the final quarter made for an interesting period. The Netherlands ends its campaign with no points.

FLASH QUOTES:
Georgios AFROUDAKIS (GRE) – Captain, two goals, on completing the round-robin portion of the competition: “From the beginning of the competition, we expected to play in the quarter-finals (Friday). We hope to win and celebrate qualification in the Olympic Games.”

Tjerk KRAMER (NED) – Captain, who was excluded for misconduct in second quarter, on the value of the experience for the young Dutch team: “It’s very valuable: the pressure, the ambience, everything that comes with a tournament like this. And I think we’re learning a lot. ” On the lasting effects for his team-mates: “Well, they’re sportsmen, you know, so it takes some time to cope with this kind of thing. But I think we’ll get out stronger in the end.”


Game 26: 15:40, Group A, FYR OF MACEDONIA 6 GERMANY 4
Quarters: 0-2, 2-3, 4-1, 0-0
Referees: Jose WERNER (NED), Henk SMIT (NED)
Extra Man: MKD: 2/8. GER: 0/8
Pens:  MKD: 2/2. GER: 1/1
Teams:
FORMER YUGOSLAVIAN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: Milosh MARINKOVIKS, Mateo CUK (1), Srgjan AKSENTIJEVIC (1), Petar IVOSEVIC (1), Ivan BASARA, Igor MILANOVIKS, Marko MARTINIC, Dimitar DIMOVSKI, Miroslav RANDJIKS (3), Cupic VOJISLAV, Boris LETICA, Daniel BENIKJ, Dalibor PERCHINIKJ. Head Coach: Sasho POPOVSKI.
GERMANY: Alexander TCHIGIR, Florian NAROSKA, Tim WOLLTHAN, Julian REAL, Marko STAMM (1), Marc POLITZE (1), Erik BUKOWSKI, Paul SCHUELER, Tobias KREUZMANN, Moritz OELER (1), Andreas SCHLOTTERBECK, Sven ROEBRING, Roger KONG. Head Coach: Hagen STAMM.

Germany is out of 2012 London Olympic contention following a major upset by the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. Germany was the team in the control in the first half and even went 4-2 ahead a minute into the third but then Germany went missing in action. The Macedonians played with heart while Germany took poor options and didn’t seem to set up the attack as well as in previous games. Some options weren’t exploited while the Macedonians were fighting for a life. Coach STAMM even left captain and major playmaker POLITZE on the bench following his second timeout at 3:36 when he only had two major fouls against his name and the last thread of German hopes dangling listlessly. It was a game of two halves, as the cliché goes. POLITZE and Marko STAMM scored the first-quarter goals and OELER converted on penalty early in the second quarter, giving Germany a handsome start. AKSENTIJEVIC scored on extra and IVOSEVIC from out top  to close the half. ROEBING, who has had little water time, screamed in a backhander from two metres for 4-2 at the top of the third and Germany was back in action. Immediately afterwards, RANDJIKJ converted a penalty and CUK drilled one from the top a minute later for 4-4. Germany was rattled and looked distressed so Germany had a timeout. A minute late MKD went to a timeout, but did not score from that play. However, a goal came soon after from RANDJIKJ on penalty at 3:25. With 22 seconds left on the clock, RANDJIKJ scored his third on extra, which proved to be the last goal of the game. The final quarter was far from exciting with MKD playing its normal style and Germany looking out of sorts. The defence was king at both ends. As the time ticked down the Germans looked less and less likely of putting a shot on target. A nil result on extra proved a critical factor in the game considering the Macedonians scored two from eight — the winning margin. After the game, most of the Germans shunned the media, although SCHLOTTERBECK questioned his future at the international level. The Macedonians were stunned that they had made the quarter-finals and in with a shot at an Olympic ticket.

FLASH QUOTES:
Sasho POPOVSKI (MKD) — Head coach, on the significance of beating Germany: “In words, it’s difficult to say. Until now, it is the biggest victory in Macedonian water polo.” On the importance of the quarter-final match on Friday: “Tomorrow, we can make Macedonian sports history. It’s the most important game of our lives.”

Dimitar DIMOVSKI (MKD), on the significance of the victory over Germany: “This is huge because we still can win tomorrow, as we did today, and qualify for the Olympics. We’ve never had this chance, so it’s an epic moment for Macedonia.”

Andreas SCHLOTTERBECK (GER) — Centre forward, on speculating about his future in water polo: “My disappointment? My disappointment is very big because maybe it was my last game. Maybe I don’t play any more water polo. My career, maybe it’s finished. I don’t know. I’m not sure.” On trying to explain the final result: “It’s difficult to explain. Of course, we played bad. Our counter-attack was bad… they scored six goals, it’s OK.  But we shoot only four goals? It’s the point why we lose.”


Game 27: 17:00, Group A, MONTENEGRO 14 ROMANIA 8
Quarters: 3-2, 5-2, 3-3, 3-1
Referees: Steven ROTSART (USA), Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS)
Extra Man: MNE: 5/12. ROU: 4/10
Pens: ROU: 0/1
Teams:
MONTENEGRO: Zdravko RADIC, Drasko BRGULJAN (2), Vjekoslav PASKOVIC (1), Antonio PETROVIC (1), Filip KLIKOVAC, Aleksandar RADOVIC (1), Mladan JANOVIC, Nikola JANOVIC (1), Aleksandar IVOVIC (3), Boris ZLOKOVIC (3), Vladimir GOJKOVIC (2), Predrag JOKIC, Mikos SCEPANOVIC. Head Coach: Vido LOMPAR.
ROMANIA: Dragos STOENESCU, Cosmin RADU (1), Tiberiu NEGREAN, Nicolae DIACONU (1), Andrei IOSEP, Andrei BUSILA (1), Alexandru MATEI GUIMAN (2), Mihnea CHIOVEANU, Dimitri GOANTA, Ramiro GEORGESCU (2), Alexandru GHIBAN (1), Kalman KADAR, Mihai DRAGUSIN. Head Coach: Istvan KOVACS.

Montenegro was looking for a clean sheet and performed what was necessary while the happy Romanians knew that a loss would mean nothing in the rankings while a win could lift it to first. The previous win by the Macedonians over Germany had changed the group standings markedly. This was a solid match by both sides and they displayed good water polo skills. Romania stayed in the match at 5-3 early in the second quarter and at 6-4 halfway through the periods but IVOVIC and the veteran GOJKOVIC scored on counter and from the top for 8-4 — a decisive break. It didn’t help when SCEPANOVIC stopped IOSEP’s penalty attempt at the start of the third period. RADU and GHIBAN scored successive goals after ZLOKOVIC took Montenegro to 9-4. ZLOKOVIC scored again for 10-6 and his captain, Nikola JANOVIC, scored on counter. Romania took a timeout and GEORGESCU converted for 11-7 at the final break. The game slipped away from Romania when RADOVIC and GOJKOVIC scored inside the first 90 seconds of the fourth period to set the seal on the game.

FLASH QUOTES:
Vjekoslav PASKOVIC (MNE) — One goal, on his overall impressions of Montenegro’s performance so far: “After five games, we are satisfied. We arrived here as the favourites and wanted to win every game. We’ve been able to finish in first place in our group and now have an easier game in the quarter-final.”

Cosmin RADU (ROU) — Team captain, scored once, on Romania’s approach to the match: “We thought that today’s game was going to be a diehard game because we were in a very difficult position. But, fortunately for us, Macedonia beat Germany in the game before so, for us, today was a practice.” On feeling confident heading into the quarter-final: “Right now I do, but you never know. We lost four years ago against Canada when we were the favourite so I don’t want to play again a game like that.”


Game 29, 18:20, Group B, BRAZIL 11 TURKEY 11
Quarters: 5-2, 3-5, 1-2, 2-2
Referees: Axel BENDER (GER), Aleksandar ADZIC (MNE)
Extra Man: BRA: 3/11. TUR: 3/7
Pens: BRA: 2/2
Teams:
BRAZIL: Vinicius ANTONELLI, Bernardo GOMES (2), Henrique MIRANDA (2), Gustavo COUTINHO (1), Marcelo FRANCO (1), Gabriel ROCHA, Jonas CRIVELLA (3), Felipe SILVA, Bernardo ROCHA, Ruda FRANCO (1), Gustavo GUIMARAES, Danilo CORREA (1), Marcelo CHAGAS. Head Coach: Goran SABLIC.
TURKEY: Atilla SEZER, Ali Can YILMAZ (1), Berk BIYIK (2), Oytun OKMAN, (1) Berk GUNCUT (1), Emre COSKUN (1), Osman GULENG, Ali Can GAGATAY (3), Nadir SUNMEZ, Anil SUNMEZ, Halil BESKARDESLER (1), Can GUVEN (1), Ali Ozcan KILIG. Head Coach: Halil AVCIOGLU.

Brazil and Turkey battled to an 11-11 draw with an exciting final quarter. Brazil looked well in charge for the first part of the game and you could have been forgiven for thinking a 5-1 start could turn into a big victory. Turkey was calm, slowly worked the ball and came up with the goals in the second quarter bringing the game back to 6-4, 7-6 and 8-7. CRIVELLA scored his third goal on extra-man advantage after a timeout and Turkey mimicked the move with a goal to GUVEN, going cross-cage from the deep right for 9-8 at 2:59. It didn’t end there with the experienced BESKARDESLER, twice the leading scorer at a FINA Junior World Championships (2001 and 2003) the big threat in the dying seconds. However, he popped the ball right to YILMAZ who sent the ball over the goalkeeper’s head from the same position GUVEN just scored from, levelling the game at 9-9 to close the third period. Gabriel ROCHA put Brazil in front early in the fourth and then proceeded a brace of yellow cards and a red card, when Brazil’s SILVA was sent from the bench. MIRANDA took Brazil 11-10 ahead in between the card waving. At 2:22, CRIVELLA, who had made a magnificent contribution with three goals, was shunted from the game on misconduct and Turkey took a timeout. The goal did not come on extra but went in soon after, thanks to BIYIK at 2:00. Both teams had chances at the end but the draw suited both teams with Brazil ending third and Turkey fourth, one point clear of Argentina, who could have qualified had Turkey lost

FLASH QUOTES:
Gustavo GUIMARAES (BRA), on finishing third in Group B: “We came to this match knowing that if we could win or tie we would be in third place (in Group B)… so, it’s a good thing for us.” On a strategy against Romania (in the quarter-final match on  Friday): “We have to do something to stop their centre forward (RADU) who’s a very strong player. On the attack, we’ll need to try some different things because Romania’s defence is very strong.”

Oytun OKMAN (TUR) — Captain, one goal, on the strategy to deal with the Brazilians: “Our coach gave us some good tactics today, so we tried to keep them. If we’d had a bit more luck, we should have been the victorious team today.”

Halil AVCIOGLU (TUR) — Head coach, on the approach to playing the heavily favoured team from Montenegro: “This is reality, you know. This is a different kind of water polo… we have very little chance so I will ask my players to give their best.”


Game 28: 19:40, Group B, SPAIN 8 CANADA 6
Quarters: 2-2, 1-2, 3-0, 3-2
Referees: Filippo GOMEZ (ITA), Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU).
Extra Man: ESP:  6/10 CAN: 3/9
Teams:
SPAIN: Inaki AGUILAR, Mario GARCIA (1), Oscar CARRILLO, Balazs SZIRANYI, Guillermo MOLINA (3), Marc MINGUELL (2), Ivan GALLEGO, Albert ESPANOL (1), Blai MALLARACH, Felipe PERRONE (2), Ivan PEREZ, Xavier GARCIA, Daniel LOPEZ. Head Coach: Rafael AGUILAR.
CANADA: Robin RANDALL, Constantin KUDABA, Oliver VIKALO, Nicolas CONSTANTIN-BICARI (2), Justin BOYD, Scott ROBINSON (1), Luka GASIC, Kevin GRAHAM, Aaron FELTHAM, John CONWAY (2), Devon DIGGLE (1), Jared McELROY, Dusan ALEKSIC. Head Coach: Dragan JOVANOVIC.

On a day of pressure matches the last of the preliminary rounds proved to be another stunner. It wasn’t the success story that the Macedonians produced over Germany earlier in the day but it did see the hugely supported home team lead twice in the third quarter and turn into the third period one goal up. While Canada was working hard all over the pool and coming up with excellent results, it was Spain who produced the statistic that proved the killer — six from 10 on extra man compared to Canada’s three from nine — which was the difference in the final score. The third quarter was the one that gave Spain victory with PERRONE shooting through two defenders from the top and captain MOLINA spearing in another. MOLINA then converted the first of four successive extra-man plays. CONSTANTIN-BICARI opened with the first after a timeout ploy at the top of the fourth period, followed by Mario GARCIA with a fumbled shot and ESPANOL tearing one in off the right upright. It was 8-5 for Spain and Canadian head coach JOVANOVIC was upset, kicking a poolside marker into the water for which he was red-carded, meaning he will miss the crucial quarter-final clash with Greece on Good Friday. Without the coach CONWAY scored for 8-6 at 2:33. Spain went to a timeout and MINGUELL converted the play off a swift pass from his left for the last score of the game.

FLASH QUOTES:
Rafael AQUILAR (ESP) — Head coach, on being down 4-3 at halftime: “With teams of similar quality it is normal. As the time passes we have the time to get back in front.” On the intensity of the game: “It was very hard, the last game in the group and the most difficult. Canada is very interesting, different. We had intensity all through the game.” On excellent extra-man play: “It is good but we must perform in other parts. Tomorrow (against the Macedonians) we have to play very good defence, extra-man and counter-attack.”

Ivan PEREZ — Centre forward, on favouring his right leg after the match: “It was a cramp to my muscle but it’s nothing the physio can’t sort out before tomorrow.” On Canada taking the lead twice: “We knew it was going to be a hard game. We expected that. But it was a long game and we knew at some point we would take the lead.”

Dragan JOVANOVIC (CAN) – Head coach, on his players’ performance: “I can’t be unsatisfied with this – intensity, energy in the pool, desire, focus that we are looking for since the beginning of this tournament.” On receiving a red card: “Emotions kicked in and I did what I did. You know, I deserved the red card…pretty stupid but, you know, that’s the game when your emotions are on the top.” On the impact of his suspension from the quarter final: “There will be no difference at all, absolutely no difference… They’re (the players) the ones who have to do it, not me. That’s the bottom line.”

Aaron FELTHAM (CAN) – Captain, on proving that Canada can compete with the top teams: “Any question that anybody had about us being able to play with them or being able to do well after playing a couple of weaker games, I think we answered that.” On playing Greece in the quarter-final: “I think we stack up pretty well. They’re not as big as Spain, but they’re a pretty controlled team. But I think if we play our defence on them we can baffle them a little bit.” (fina)