Courtesy: LEN
The matches in the last remaining qualification group didn’t bring much surprise, Israel and France grabbed the last two spots – though Israel sent a strong message by beating the French.
Group C (Gzira):
1. Israel 9, 2. France 6, 3. Portugal 3, 4. Malta 0
Israel and France qualified for the European Championship.
As it was expected, Israel and France will return to the big stage and play at the European Water Polo Championships in Split late August and early September. However, the power-ranks somewhat changed: Israel, which debuted at the championships only four years ago, upended the French in the game deciding the top spot in the group. A 3-0 run after 5-5 early in the third proved to be crucial – from that point the Israelis managed to keep their advantage and earned a fine 13-10 win.
The last berth was decided on the last day and Portugal – once qualifier in 2016 – caused some headaches for the favourite French when it came back from 6-3 to 6-6. A penalty in the last seconds in the third gave the lead back to France which soon added two and went 9-6 up. The Portuguese pulled one back with 2:51 to go but the French hit three from their next four possessions and with a massive 12-7 win they secured their place at the Europeans where they had finished 7th in the last four editions.
Ema Vernoux was instrumental in France’s success as she scored 7 goals (as many as the entire Portuguese team) – she is the youngest member of the Vernoux family, his brothers Romain-Marion and Thomas helped the men’s team to advance two weeks ago, so in Split all three siblings will be in the pool to push the French teams between 27 August and 10 September in the magnificent Spaladium Arena.
The draw for the men’s and women’s tournament is scheduled for 23 April, it’s going to be staged in Split in a live TV show.