Montenegro and Serbia have won the right to contest tomorrow’s European Junior Championship final after beating Italy and Hungary in yesterday’s semi-finals respectively.
The first semi-final turned out to be a fiercely-fought duel with Montenegro’s superior extra-man rate of success and their higher degree of skill being the trump card against the Italians.
Three-goal Bogdan Durdic put Montenegro 6-4 ahead early in the last session with Italy’s only response coming through a goal from Jacopo Alesiani that proved futile for his team’s hopes.
The second semi-final, between Serbia and Hungary, was evenly balanced until just into the last session after which Serbia, led by four-goal Radomir Dragovic, pulled away to lead 12-8 only for Hungary to reduce the deficit to 12-10.
This afternoon, Malta, under the guidance of coach Anthony Far-rugia, will be facing Belarus in a play-off for 15th place.
Results
Classification Matches
Russia 8
Spain 4
(1-1, 3-0, 2-2, 2-1)
Turkey 5
Croatia 10
(1-4, 2-2, 1-1, 1-3)
Semi-Finals
Italy 5
Montenegro 6
(1-0, 0-3, 3-2, 1-1)
Serbia 12
Hungary 10
(2-2, 2-2, 4-2, 4-4)