Greece’s youngsters added the finishing touches to a strong recovery at the European Aquatics U18 Water Polo Championship as they defeated Italy to seal the bronze medal.
The Greek youth took out the bronze at the event in Romania by beating the Italians 12-11, marking an impressive result after losing their first two matches at the tournament.
The young water polo side seemed on the path for an event to forget, but a string of three wins after two losses put them back in medal contention.
They qualified for the semi-final wherein they lost 20-14 to Serbia, but they restored their winning form in the third-place clash with the Italians.
Elias Angelopoulos and Dimitris Hatzis served as chief protagonists in the victory which was very tightly fought.
Each side scored three apiece in the opening eight-minute period before Italy took a narrow 7-6 lead by the end of the second.
Greece came back in the third to go 10-9 up before two goals each in the fourth saw them just hold on for a 12-11 triumph.
