After tireless efforts of the local organisers, volunteers and participating teams who came together to rebuild the venue of the Canoe Polo European Championships in Sicily following the destruction caused by heavy storm with tornado, the first competition day is under the roof with a one day delay.
Forty-four games in four divisions – senior men’s and women’s and U21 men/women – were played on the opening day of the European Championships in Catania. 89 goals were scored today in men’s senior division, and Pedro Assuncao from Portugal leads the scorer rankings with four goals.
Russian men’s senior team recorded the highest win of the day, defeating Austria 10 – 1. Ivan Debelyi scored three times, Vladislav Skomorokho, Alexander Zatona, Egor Zhandarov two times each, while Maksim Volodin scored once. Jacob Lars scored for Austria.
Portugal lead by the top scorer after day one Pedro Assuncao won in a match against Lithuania (9 – 2). All four goals scored by Assuncao were in this match. Portugal however lost in a match with Italy. Hosts of this championships won 4 - 0 (2 goals by Luca Bellini, one Davide Novara and Emanuele Gianmarco each). Italy later lost to France 0 – 5.
For matches were played in women’s senior division. The British team, defending champions from the European Championships in 2019 in Coimbra, played two matches but lost both. The team that is experiencing changes in squad lost 1 – 4 to Spain and 2 – 3 to Poland. On the other hand Germany started strong in the tournament with 8 – 2 win in a match against Sweden. The top scorer in this division after day one is Zoe Mindek from Switzerland with four goals.
Much better start to the tournament was for British women’s U21 team. Silver medallists of the previous World Championships won in a match with Spain (4 – 1) and Poland (4 – 2), but were defeated by France (2 – 4). France also won in a match against Netherlands (4 -2). Italy won against Poland (4 – 3) and Germany (3 – 4) and was tied with Spain (3 – 3). Germany defeated Netherlands 9 – 2. And the Dutch team also lost against Poland (2 - 3).
The top scorers after day one in women’s U21 divisions with four goals each are Kathryn Farley, Katie Howes (both GBR), Veere Vroon (NED) and Hanna Kunz (GER).
The most matches of the opening day were played in men’s U21 division. The match between France and Russia was an exciting one with 13 goals, 10 for the French team, who did not only win this match but also the one against Belgium. However, France lost in a match with Spain (1 – 5). Spanish team was also strong against Russia (9 – 2). Italian team won twice – against Poland and Great Britain. Germany also produced two wins, against Portugal 9 – 1 and against Ireland 6 – 2. Another team with two wins of the day was Netherlands who defeated Switzerland and Czech Republic.
Leading on the scorer’s table in men’s U21 are France’s Leo Dehainault and Italian Tommso Gaetano Lampo’ with seven goals each.
Photo: Hans Janssen
7.10.2021
