BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former Salem International University standout Michal Izdinsky scored once, but France suffered a 13-7 defeat at the hands of the host Hungarians in the final game of Group B competition on the third day (Friday, July 21) of men’s competition at the 2017 FINA World Championship in Budapest, Hungary.
The goal marked the second of the championship tournament for Izdinsky who netted one marker in an 11-10 loss to Australia prior to being red-carded on the second day of competition (Wednesday, July 19).
The loss drops France into Fourth Place in Group B as the French will next face Group A Fourth Place finisher Canada on Sunday, July 23, at 10:30 a.m. local time. France previously fell to Italy, 18-9, in both nations’ tournament opener on Monday, July 17, as the French concluded Group B play with an 0-3 mark.
Hungary never trailed in the game thank to opening up a 4-0 lead in the first quarter before France called a timeout. The Hungarians pushed the margin to 6-0 by the 2:31 mark prior to Izdinsky arresting the slide to burying a man-up goal late in the opening frame to pull France back within five at 6-1.
In the second quarter, Hungary went ahead 7-1 prior to France’s Alexandre Camarasa connecting on a man-up chance and Mehdi Marzouki lining in a penalty shot to shrink the gap to 7-3. France would go on to add another goal with Hungary putting away a pair of strikes in the frame to set the scoreboard at 8-4 in favor of the home country by halftime.
The third quarter belonged to Hungary, however, as the hosts tossed in a trio of tallies to France’s solo goal to pull ahead 11-5 entering the fourth quarter prior to the teams exchanging pairs of shots in the closing minutes for the 13-7 final score.
A large portion of the discrepancy between the two teams came on man-up chances as France shot three-for-nine, while Hungary cashed in on eight-of-14 chances with an extra-swimmer.
2017 FINA World Championship Second Round draw (Sunday, July 23):
Match 25: 10:30 a.m., 4A – Canada vs. 4B – France
Match 26: Noon, 4C – South Africa vs. 4D – United States
Match 27: 5:30 p.m., 2A – Brazil vs. 3B – Australia
Match 28: 7:00 p.m., 3A – Kazakhstan vs. 2B Italy
Match 29: 8:30 p.m., 2C – Greece vs. 3D – Japan
Match 30: 10:00 p.m., 3C – Spain vs. 2D – Russia
