Greece won the IBSA Goalball European Championships Group C yesterday, defeating Montenegro 13-10 in a close-fought final in Chisinau, Moldova.

There were some surprises in store on finals' day at the tournament, with Russia (2nd in pool B) losing to the Greeks in the quarter-final in a match that went into overtime. The final score was 5-6 thanks to a Russian own goal.

Bulgaria, who had been unbeaten in the round robin stage in pool B, lost 6-8 in the quarterfinal to Italy.
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Portugal, who won pool A without any loses, found Greece a better team in the semifinal, and it was the Greeks who progressed to the big match by beating the Portuguese 8 – 5.

In the second semi overtime was needed again to separate the teams, and Montenegro pipped Italy 9-8 to the spot.
 
Sunday 10th September

QF 1. POR vs DEN 15 – 5 (10 – 3)
QF 2. RUS vs GRE 5 – 6 (OT) (5 – 5/3 – 3)
QF 3. MNE vs NED 7 – 5 (3 – 1)
QF 4. BUL vs ITA 6 – 8 (3 – 3)
 
SF 1. POR vs GRE 5 – 8 (1 – 3)
SF 2. MNE vs ITA 9 – 8 (OT) (8 – 8/4 – 4)
 
3rd-4th place play-off

POR vs ITA 8 – 4 (3 – 0)
 
Final

GRE – MNE  13 – 10 (7 – 5)
 
Final ranking

1. Greece
2. Montenegro
3. Portugal
4. Italy
5. Bulgaria
6. Russia
7. The Netherlands
8.  Denmark
9.  Romania
10.France
11.Croacia
12.Moldova
 
Greece, Montenegro and Portugal have secured promotion to the European Championships Group B in 2018.

Caption: a Montenegro player in action during a match.