Turkey 10
Malta 4
(3-0, 1-2, 4-1, 2-1)
Turkey advanced to the semi-finals of the European 'B' Championships in Lugano, Switzerland, after a 10-4 victory over Malta, yesterday.
The Turks lived up to their pre-match billing and eliminated the Maltese team from contention with a slick performance, imposing their superiority on the proceedings bar the second session which saw Sergio Afric's team hitting back to reduce the score to 4-2 at the half-way stage.
However, after that the difference in class and physical preparation came to the fore with the Turks opening a somewhat reassuring five-goal lead (8-3) before cruising to a comfortable victory and a place among the top four in the tournament.
Malta will now play for fifth and sixth place in a play-off against Slovenia tomorrow afternoon.
Slovenia were yesterday beaten by the Netherlands 9-7 in the other quarter-final.
Today, Turkey play Great Britain and the Dutch, so lucky to deny Malta victory with a last-gasp equaliser in Wednesday's group match, face France with a place in tomorrow's final at stake.
Meanwhile, irrespective of their final placing in Lugano, Malta have already made certain of a berth in the top six along with Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, Turkey and Slovenia.
These six nations will now join the last six-placed teams in the 2008 European Championships, namely, Spain, Macedonia, Rumania, Russia, Greece and Slovakia, and figure in a qualification round ahead of the European Championships to be played in Zagreb next year.
After the 2010 Europeans, LEN will be changing the format of the preliminary stages, where the qualification round shall see teams drawn into six groups of four teams each.
The top teams will therefore come across the lesser fry as the groups are drawn, making it possible for Malta to meet big names such as Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Italy or Germany.
Malta, rightly considered as the minnows of European waterpolo, has won the admiration of other much more reputable nations when forging its way into the top middle echelons of the continental game.
Lugano has definitely been a valuable experience for the national team under the astute guidance of Afric, one which enhances the waterpolo reputation of our tiny nation.
Malta: J. Cachia, A. Borg Cole, J. Gabaretta 1, S. Camilleri, C. Debono, M. Pisani, P. Privitera 1, J. Valletta, M. Stellini, J. Soler 1, M. Meli, J. Brownrigg, N. Lanzon 1.
Results
Classification 7-12th: Ukraine vs Poland 12-8; Denmark vs Switzerland 10-8.
Quarter-finals: Turkey vs Malta 10-4; Slovenia vs Netherlands 7-9.
Today's fixtures
Classification 7-12th: Poland vs Switzerland; Denmark vs Belarus; Ukraine vs Georgia.
Semi-finals: The Netherlands vs France; Turkey vs Great Britain.