The Greek women’s national water polo team produced a commanding performance to defeat Italy’s women’s national water polo team 15–8 in Thursday’s bronze-medal match at the European Women’s Water Polo Championship, securing third place.
The result marks Greece’s sixth medal in the history of the European Women’s Championships – four silver and two bronze – with gold still proving elusive.
The pattern of the match closely mirrored the teams’ earlier encounter during the second phase of the tournament on January 31.
Greece set the tone early with successive defensive blocks and quickly found attacking rhythm, racing to a 5–1 lead by the end of the first quarter, despite missing a penalty when Vaso Plevritou sent her effort wide.
Italy responded through Bianconi and Bettini, but Greece remained firmly in control and went into half-time with a commanding 10–4 advantage. By that stage, the Greek side had already recorded nine different scorers, including 15-year-old Afroditi Bitsakou, who drew applause for her composure and audacity with a lobbed finish from close range.
The second half became largely procedural, as Greece never allowed Italy to threaten a comeback. On the contrary, the margin continued to grow, peaking at nine goals (15–6), before a slight relaxation in the closing minutes once the outcome was beyond doubt.
The defining moment of the match came during a timeout called by head coach Haris Pavlidis with around two and a half minutes remaining, when he congratulated his players and told them: “when we play our game, there is no team that can face us.”
Source: Zougla
