JERUSALEM, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Spain lifted trophy at the European Women's U19 Water Polo Championship after a 9-8 win over Hungary in the final in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya on Monday evening.
It's the second European U19 title for the Spaniards, who repeated their achievement at the 2018 championship held in Portugal.
Hungary scored first, but Spain responded with three consecutive goals by the end of the first quarter, then increased to 6-2 by halftime mainly thanks to Giorgia Raffaele's effort.
Goals by Hungaria's captain Panni Szegedi and Eszter Macsai cut the deficit to 5-6 at the end of the third quarter.
Nona Perez raised Spain to 9-6 with three minutes to go, but Hungarian goalkeeper Boglarka Neszmely joined the attack and cut the score to 8-9 with 53 seconds on the clock.
Hungary still managed to gain possession, but the Spanish defense prevented a dramatic equalizer.
Raffaele, Perez and Paula Pratz scored a brace each for Spain, while Szegedi scored game-high 3 goals for the silver medalists.
Greece won the bronze medal after edging the Netherlands 10-9 with Stefania Santa scoring three goals. ■
