2018. november 06. 20:17

As already reported, Hungary’s women started their season in wonderful fashion by defeating France 13-4 to a deserved standing ovation at a packed Bitskey-uszoda in Eger in a joint World League and Europa Cup qualifier. Here's the post-match reaction.

Photos: Dávid Madar/MVLSZ

“Once again the crowd was behind us; the atmosphere was fantastic. I’m very happy with our performance. At times we played some great water polo. The result was a fair reflection of the game against a French side which has improved a lot in recent times”, head coach Attila Bíró, back in his hometown of Eger, stated after the match. “Our team was geared towards pace with Rita Keszthelyi, Dorottya Szilágyi, Anna Illés and Vanda Vályi, who was back after illness. This can be one of our main weapons. I’m delighted to have warmed up for the match away to Italy in this manner”, he added.

Player of the match was the six-goal Rita Keszthelyi, who asserted that “I felt we were stuttered a little at the start. We missed a number of chances and we’ll need to iron that out because we won’t be able to afford doing it against stronger opposition. Our defence was solid, and even if we conceded some avoidable goals we kept them down to just a few. It’s always important to defend well because if we do, we possess the firepower to put them to the sword. There was a difference in speed and strength between the two sides. We’d like to thank the spectators for their support; it was a delight to play in front of this crowd”.

Eger’s Dorottya Szilágyi was happy to be playing in her own town. “It was great to play our opening World League match in my home pool. It was fantastic that my family, grandparents and cousins were able to be here because it’s not certain that they’d manage the journey to Budapest. As for the match, we didn’t have much time to prepare together even if the result wouldn’t indicate that. We committed a number of errors, and lacked precision. Despite that I’m happy with the victory” she professed.

Women's Joint World League and Europa Cup qualifier, 2nd matchday

Group B

Hungary 13-4 France (3-1, 4-1, 4-1, 2-1)

Eger, Bitskey swimming pool, match officials: Schwartz (ISR), Daskalopoulus (GRE)

Hungary: Gangl – Szilágyi 1, Szücs, Illés 1, Keszthelyi 6, Vályi V. 2, Gyöngyössy. Replacements: Máté, Gurisatti 2, Leimeter 1, Csabai, Garda, Kasó (GK). Head coach: Attila Bíró

France: Derenty – Millot 1, Bachelier, Guillet, Mahieu, Paillat 1, Daule 2. Replacements: Leroux, Grass, Deschampt, Clerc, Bacquet, Vo Nan (GK). Head coach: Florian Bruzzo


Other results

Group A:

Spain 13-5 Israel

Group B:

Netherlands 7-9 Italy


3rd matchday, December 1st 2018

Group A:

Romania-Spain
Greece-Russia

4th matchday, December 4th 2018

Group A:

Israel-Russia
Romania-Greece

Group B:

Italy-Hungary
France-Netherlands

5th matchday, December 15th 2018

Group A:

Spain-Greece
Israel-Romania

6th matchday, December 18th 2018

Group A:

Spain-Russia
Israel-Greece

Group B:

France-Italy
Netherlands-Hungary

7th matchday, January 12th 2019

Group A:

Romania-Russia
Israel-Spain

8th matchday, January 15th 2019

Group A:

Spain-Romania
Russia-Greece

Group B:

France-Hungary
Italy-Netherlands

9th matchday, February 12th 2019

Group A:

Russia-Israel
Greece-Romania

Group B:

Italy-France
Hungary-Netherlands

10th matchday, 5th March 2019

Group A:

Greece-Spain
Romania-Israel

Group B:

Hungary-Italy
Netherlands-France

The Europa Cup Final Six tournament will take place between 28th-31st March 2019, with the host city still to be confirmed.

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