For their last match of the weekend, Olympic Nice Natation easily overcame Hannover’s White Sharks, winning 18-8.
Following Naples’ victory over Sète 17-9 earlier in the morning, Olympic Nice Natation had to win their match against Hannover by at least six goals to secure first place in the group. And they did it with a solid 18-8 victory.
Keen to take the lead as quickly as possible, the Azureans started the match at a blistering pace. With remarkable success, they handed the visitors a 6-0 scoreline (6/7 on shots). On the other side of the pool, ONN’s goalkeeper, Lukas Kozmer, had little to do as the Germans were overly clumsy in their finishing. It took 4 minutes and 45 seconds for the White Sharks to open their scoring.
Emboldened by this goal, Hannover scored three more times, delivering a 4-0 to Nice (6-4 at 11 minutes 20 seconds of play). Fortunately for them, the locals could rely on David Bobic. The Croatian stopped the bleeding three minutes before halftime and even scored a penalty just before the break (9-5 at halftime).
The third quarter was the turning point of the match. Less clumsy in attack and far more decisive in defense, the Nice team didn’t give their opponents an inch, conceding only one goal at the very end of the period (13-6).
At the start of the final act, Hannover’s players began to struggle physically and fell back into their earlier mistakes. Few accurate shots and many turnovers allowed ONN to increase their lead on the scoreboard. Michal Izdinsky even had the luxury of scoring his fifth personal goal with a perfectly executed lob (18-8 at the end of the match).
