FTC-Telekom’s youth team put in a stellar performance in the Round of 16 in Margaret Island.
Levente Szoc, our youth team coach, has been in a difficult position this year, having to fill in the championship team week after week with the best youth class all season. As a result, we finished the basic and intermediate stages in 7th place, so we qualified for the Round of 16 as the penultimate team, and in the quarterfinals we received KSI, who had a chance to win the championship, perhaps the best team.
However, the difference in knowledge was not striking, perhaps our attacks were more flexible in the first period of the match, and our youth believed more and more with the passage of time that we had a chance to reach the top four. The belief was also reflected in the score, we went 6-3 up in the meeting, but Sportiskolás managed to stand up and were already ahead in the last quarter.
In the end, we managed to save the usual game time for a draw: penalties came. The green and white started poorly, we made two errors, and then our guard Ferenc Bala got his teammates back in the game by saving the fourth and fifth series. Continuing, our five-meter guard was protected in the seventh round, so we reached the semi-finals, where we fought with Szeged to get to the finals.
There was a question about how our guys were going to play polo on the second day, after the adrenaline rush of the day before. It may have had some effect on our brave lead, as we ran behind Szeged’s side in the first quarter of the game. The country team went 3-2 for the last time, and Vince Varga, who also scored 7 against KSI, got our goals for the most part. In the face-off, we took a two-goal lead at 7-5 for the first time, then limited the final score to 10-7 with two seconds remaining.
The coupling of the golden battle with the elegant Úpest-Fradi final drew spectators to Hajós, despite the fact that rainy weather greeted visitors to the match. UVSE learned from the mistake of their predecessors and protected Vince Varga, who scored 13 hits in two matches, with a guard on the clock, so he replaced our left-hander, Simon Sebestyen, who scored three times in the first. quarter.
In the second half, we already controlled the game, Simon kept scoring, but Bens Haverkampf and Chongor Lugosi also scored. It was a question of when and who would be able to grab the lead by two goals first. And at the beginning of the third period, we were ahead not by two, but by three, in a row. (10-7). However, a close do-or-die battle was expected for the final act, as the host came up 11-10.
In the final, only UVSE managed to equalize, but Lugosi made the final score with 13-12 minutes left, Levente Szűcs did a miracle with his team made up mostly of teenagers, and after 2021, our youth team won a gold medal again.
Youth Championship for Boys, Quarters
05/12/2023, Fri 15:30
Alfred Hajos National Sports Pool
KSI – FTC-TELEKOM 12-13 (3-2, 2-4, 1-1, 3-2, 4-5) – Penalty Shootout
FTC top scorers: Varga V. 7, Szőke 3, Lugosi, Paján, Simon, Haverkampf 1-1
Youth championship for boys, preliminary
13.05.2023, Sat 14:30
Alfred Hajos National Sports Pool
FTC-TELEKOM – SZEGED 10-7 (2-3, 2-0, 3-2, 3-2)
FTC top scorers: Varga V. 6, Haverkampf 2, Paján, Bella 1-1
Youth Championship for Boys, Final
14.05.2023, Sun 14:30
Alfred Hajos National Sports Pool
UVSE – FTC-TELEKOM 12-13 (4-3, 3-5, 3-3, 2-2)
FTC top scorers: Simon 6, Haverkampf 3, Lugosi 2, Varga V., Tóth 1-1
List of champion team: Luka Aksintjevic, Bence Paculia, PAL Ferenc Bala, Bella Xanad, Christophe Csuszy, Gergo Diack, Benedik Volup Domonkus, Bence Haverkampf, Bence Kiss, Matias Kovacs, Zsombor Losogos, Viktor Paján Bátor, Márton Pápai, Ádám Paróczi Gergő , Ákos Rausch, Gergely Simon Sebestyén, Benedek Szőke, Nándor Szöllősi, Artúr Tóth, Vince Dániel Varga, Huba Vereseman
Coaches: Levente Szűcs, Balázs Nyéki, Mátyás Felkai