The first game on Tuesday in round 3 of the men's World League group stage saw Romania grabbing its first win. In Tbilisi the Romanians overcame an early 4-2 deficit to beat Georgia 11-13. Mihnea Chioveanu led the winning Romanian side, where Andrei Busila celebrated his return by scoring twice, on offence netting 3 shots. Later on Tuesday the unbeaten sides in group A, Greece and Hungary, face off in Patras.
Two of the more anticipated match-ups of the night ended in wins for Italy and Serbia, both playing away. The Italian victory in Croatia was sensational. Italy turned around an 8-6 deficit in the final minutes into the nice win by scoring thrice in a row, including 2 goals from veteran Christian Presciutti (pictured). Despite shots back and forth in the final 2 minutes of the game Italy held on to walk away from Dubrovnik with their third straight win to now lead group C.
In Budva, Montenegro defending champions Serbia held off rivals Montenegro 10-12. The victory was well controlled mainly thanks to a big 2nd quarter in which the Serbs ran away on a 0-4 scoring streak and nice defensive work including goalkeeper Branislav Mitrovic living up to the expectations. Montenegro kept up in the remainder but never looked able to set up a turnaround as Serbia marched on in the World League staying unbeaten in group B. Top scorers on Tuesday for the winners were Filip Filipovic (4 goals) and Andrija Prlainovic who netted 3. Aleksandar Ivovic scored thrice for the home side.
In Moscow Russia gained its first win by beating Turkey 13-9. After a nice opening quarter for the home team Turkey crawled back to even tie the game at 5-5 halfway through. Order was restored by the Russians in the 3rd session though with a dominating performance. That proved enough for the win as goals were exchanged in the final period but Turkey could avoid their 3rd straight loss in group C. Nikolay Lazarev led all scorers with 4 for the winners.
Greece have made a big first step in their quest to win group A after beating main contenders Hungary 12-8 at home in Patras on Tuesday. Right from the start the home team took the lead and never let go. In the second quarter the Hungarians came back to 4-3 before Greece took charge scoring thrice in a row. That proved decisive as the visitors never got closer than trailing 3 goals in the second half. Angelos Vlachopoulos and Konstantinos Genidounias led the winning side scoring 3 goals each. Lefthander Marton Vamos netted a pair for Hungary.
Spain also celebrated its first win. At home in Barcelona France was outplayed in the firsthalf and could not change things after the main break as they suffered a 18-10 loss at the pool of the Sant Andreu club. Backed by an enthusiastic crowd Spain started off nicely and already after the opening period led 4-1. In the second session the home team simply continued to walk away and by half-time had virtually secured the victory already leading a comfortable 8-3. A high-scoring second half followed but as Spain managed to score as easily as they conceded goals their win was never in doubt.
Round 4 of the prelims will be played on February 16, 2016.
FINA World League 2015-2016
Men's Preliminary Phase (Europe)
Round 3
Tuesday, 1 December:
Georgia vs. Romania 11-13 (4-2, 2-4, 2-4, 3-3) - in Tbilisi
Georgia scorers:
Romania scorers: Mihnea Chioveanu 3, Tiberiu Negrean 2, Andrei Busila 2, Alexandru Ghiban 2, Dimitri Goanta, Daniel Teohari, Roland Szabo, Nicolae Oanta.
Montenegro vs. Serbia 10-12 (3-2, 0-4, 2-3, 5-3) - in Budva
Montenegro scorers: Aleksandar Ivovic 3, Drasko Brguljan 2, Uros Cuckovic, Luka Sekulic, Mladjan Janovic, Nikola Janovic, Nikola Vukcevic.
Serbia scorers: Filip Filipovic 4, Andrija Prlainovic 3, Gavril Subotic 2, Dusan Mandic, Zivko Gocic, Dusko Pijetlovic.
Croatia vs. Italy 8-9 (2-3, 3-1, 2-2, 1-3) - in Dubrovnik
Croatia scorers: Sandro Sukno 3, Damir Buric 2, Luka Bukic, Petar Muslim, Paulo Obradovic.
Italy scorers: Christian Presciutti (pictured) 3, Francesco di Fulvio 2, Niccolo' Gitto, Andrea Fondelli, Giacomo Bini, Matteo Aicardi.
Russia vs. Turkey 13-9 (4-1, 1-4, 6-2, 2-2) - in Moscow
Russia scorers: Nikolay Lazarev 4, Artem Odintsov 3, Alexey Bugaychuk 2, Lev Magomaev, Andrey Balakirev, Konstantinov Kharkov, Sergey Lisunov.
Turkey scorers: Arslan Sutalo 3, Oytun Okman 2, Halil Beskardesler 2, Cemil Ozbakis, Ali Yilmaz.
Greece vs. Hungary 12-8 (2-0, 5-3, 3-4, 2-1) - in Patras
Greece scorers: Angelos Vlachopoulos 3, Konstantinos Genidounias 3, Ioannis Fountoulis 2, Konstantinos Mourikis 2, Emmanouil Mylonakis, Alexandros Gounas.
Spain vs. France 18-10 (4-1, 4-2, 5-3, 5-7) - in Barcelona
Spain scorers: Albert Español 6, Blai Mallarach 3, Marc Roca 2, Gonzalo Echenique 2, Ricard Alarcon, Alberto Munarriz, Balazs Sziranyi, Francisco Fernandez, Gonzalo Lopez-Escribano.
France scorers: Enzo Khasz 3, Mehdi Marzouki 2, Remi Saudadier, Michal Idzinsky, Manuel Laversanne, Petar Tomasevic, Mathieu Peisson.
Current standings
Group A:
1. Greece 3-9 pts, 2. Hungary 3-6, 3. Romania 3-3, 4. Georgia 3-0.
Group B:
1. Serbia 3-9 pts, 2. Montenegro 2-3, 3. Spain 3-3, 4. France 2-0.
Group C:
1. Italy 3-9 pts, 2. Croatia 3-6, 3. Russia 3-3, 4. Turkey 3-0.
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