Serbia holds off Russia on Nis tournament day 1

On opening day of the 8-nation tournament in the Serbian city of Nis, on Wednesday, the 2015 World Championships contenders made no mistake and kicked off by winning. Greece was up first and ran away from Germany already in the first half in what would went on to be a 14-6 final score. Even more domination was on display the following match-up as Montenegro made the difference against China in the third period, won 6-0, to post a 17-8 victory. Also among the winners was Spain who continued their recent nice results, despite not having qualified for the Kazan World Championships, by beating Romania 6-10 behind 4 goals from left-hander newcomer Gonzalo Echenique. Meanwhile in the day's final match-up Serbia faced a familiar opponent in Russia, who they played multiple times recently. And again the World Championships hosts could not force an upset. With Filip Filipovic and Andrija Prlainovic (3 goals each) the Serbs took command in the third quarter and that proved enough to record a 12-9 win. Action in Nis continues on a busy Thursday with a double round. 

2015 World Championships preparation tournament

Nis, Serbia

Schedule and results

Wednesday, 15 July

Greece vs. Germany 14-6 (3-0, 3-1, 6-2, 2-3)

Greece scorers: Fountoulis 4, Afroudakis 3, Mylonakis 2, Dervisis, Kapousis, Kolomvos, Gunas, Vlachopoulos.

Germany scorers: Schueler 2, Nossek, Real, Oeler, Van den Bosch.

Montenegro vs. China 17-8 (3-2, 2-2, 6-0, 5-4)

Montenegro scorers: Ivovic 4, Da. Brguljan 3, Janovic 3, Paskovic 2, Murisic 2, Cuckovic, Radovic, Ukropina.

China scorers: Dong 3, J. Cheng 2, N. Liang 2, Cheng.

Romania vs. Spain 6-10 (1-2, 1-3, 1-1, 3-4)

Romania scorers: Negrean 3, Oanta 2, Ghiban, Gheorghe.

Spain scorers: Echenique 4, Gutierrez 2, Garcia 2, Sziranyi, Español,

Serbia vs. Russia 12-9 (5-3, 2-2, 4-1, 1-3)

Serbia scorers: Filipovic 3, Prlainovic 3, Gocic 2, S. Mitrovic 2, Mandic, Nikic.

Russia scorers: Nagaev 2, Stepanyuk 2, Kholod 2, Lisunov 2, Timakov.

Thursday, 16 July

09.00: China vs. Germany

10.20: Greece vs. Montenegro

11.40: Serbia vs. Spain

13.00: Russia vs. Romania

16.00: Germany vs. Montenegro

17.20: China vs. Greece

18.40: Spain vs. Russia

20.00: Serbia vs. Romania

Friday, 17 July

16.00: A3 vs. B4

17.20: A4 vs. B3

18.40: A1 vs. B2

20.00: A2 vs. B1

Saturday, 18 July

09.00: Match for 5th-8th place

10.20: Match for 5th-8th place

11.40: Match for 3rd place

13.00: Mathc for 1st place

N.b.: time mentioned is local time.