Lithuania Wins Nations Cup: Water Polo Victory

“We planned to fight for the gold, because we always go to win. It just doesn’t always work out. I’m glad that this time we achieved our goal,” said Rimvydas Šimanskas, assistant to Lithuanian national team coach Igor Martinovič.

At the start of Group A, the Lithuanians crushed the Czech team 21:5 (6:0, 7:0, 4:3, 4:2). In the second match, a confrontation with one of the favorites, the British team, was waiting. After a dramatic fight, the Lithuanian team won the second victory 11:10 (2:4, 3:1, 4:3, 2:2).

In this meeting, Aurimas Jonkus and Janas Bakulo each scored 4 goals for our team, 2 – Gvidas Zurza, 1 – Pijus Vadvilavičius.

“We had almost no general preparation, we gathered a team from different clubs, and the basis is made up of the Elektrėnai “Zaibo” team. There was some of that play, but the most important thing was the character shown by the men. The British really played well, disciplined. It was really tough because we were 0-4 down at the beginning of the game. However, we managed to get ahead and win at the end. Everything was determined by combativeness”, emphasized R. Šimanskas.

In the third match of the group, the Lithuanians defeated the USA national team 15:11, and in the fourth 15:4 they left no hope for the Welsh water polo players.

After becoming the winners of Group A, the Lithuanians reached the final, where they met the strongest team of Group B – Slovakia. In the fight for the trophy, the Lithuanian national team triumphed 17:14 (6:4, 4:3, 5:4, 2:3) and lifted the Champions Cup.

Photo of the Czech Water Polo Federation/Lithuanian Water Polo Team

The Lithuanians trailed 1:3 in the first half of the final, but soon changed the score in their favor and, although it was not easy, kept the favorable result until the end of the meeting.

In the final, Pijus Vadvilavičius scored 6 goals for the Lithuanian team, Aurimas Jonkus 5, Janas Bakulo 3, Ernestas Pumputis, Danielius Vitkauskas and Gvidas Zurza 1 each.

“After reaching the final, the men were in a very good mood, everyone was only determined to win. Last year we played with the Slovaks for bronze and we won, and this time we met in the final. Since we had not yet won this tournament, the men played very dedicatedly and there was no need to encourage them. We played really well in the final, we made good shots, the completion ratio was not bad,” said R. Šimanskas as the reason for the success.

The Lithuanian national team was also represented by Skirmantas Motuzas, Danielius Subočius, Patrykas Pašukas, Karolis Blaževičius, Antonas Jarmolkovičius, Lukas Andrejaitis, Mantas Petašius, Benas Siliūnas and Donatas Šimulinas.

J. Bakul was awarded the best player prize.

“We have an experienced leader, Janas Bakulo, without whom it would be very difficult. Aurimas Jonkus also played well. He revealed himself with his goals in the final. The good play of Pijaus Vadvilavičius was a big boost for the national team. All players contributed to the victory – everyone did their job and made their contribution,” said R. Šimanskas.

Bronze medals were won by British water polo players. A total of 10 teams participated in the tournament.

Despite the triumph in the EU Cup of Nations, R. Šimanskas did not exude optimism when talking about the future. According to him, ambitions are limited by the lack of infrastructure. In Lithuania, there is not a single swimming pool specifically adapted for water polo.

“The greater popularity of water polo is sorely lacking. All team sports have halls adapted to their sport, and water polo players do not have a single court. All over Europe, water polo pools are built next to swimming pools, and this is normal, because water polo is one of the oldest Olympic sports. Even countries such as Saudi Arabia, Moldova or Sakartvel have water polo pools. Although water sports are popular in Lithuania, without a specially adapted court, we cannot to invite many children. We have very good results in the current conditions, because we managed to overtake much richer countries. All the credit goes to the coaches who work well and are able to prepare capable players,” said R. Šimanskas.