First day at the federal centre of Trieste of the women's pre-Olympic tournament that will award the last two passes for the Tokyo Games. Group stage, with one-way matches, until 21st January; then on the 22nd the quarter-finals, the following day the decisive semi-finals and on the 24th the finals.
Group B. Everything was extremely easy for Hungary, who overcame Israel 27-2 in the opening match. The Magyars have been dragged by the five goals of captain Keszthelyi, by Szilagyi's four goals and by a super defence that has allowed only five actions in numeric superiority to the Israelis, all neutralized. 
Greece also had little difficulty in winning over Kazakhstan as expected. Kazakhs were ahead 1-0 after sixty seconds; then the Hellenic team goes on 8-2 at halftime, with Tsoukala, who will make seven, scoring a three goals in nine minutes. In the third and fourth periods Lorantos' team controlled, without forcing too much, bringing the gap from the opponents to +8, with the final goal of 13-5 signed by the unleashed Tsoukala.
Group A. The five goal of Palmieri, three of Aiello and a defense that allows just two actions in extraplayer to the opponents for Italy that dominates 19-6 on France. The match was never in doubt with the Italian team - vice Olympic champions in Rio 2016 - ahead 10-1 at the change of field; Setterosa increased the margin from the French team in the second half of the match until the final 19-6 by Chiappini.
The first commitment of the Netherlands was little more than a training session. The Dutch sent eight players on goal and dominated the modest Slovakia 22-2, demonstrating an excellent athletic condition. Kachkova scored the first goal for the Slovaks at the start of the fourth period.

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Day 1 - Thuesday 19 January
(B) Hungary-Israel 27-2 (7-2, 3-0, 9-0, 8-0)
(B) Greece-Kazakhstan 13-5 (4-1, 4-1, 3-2, 2-1)
(A) France-Italy 5-19 (1-5, 0-5, 2-3, 3-6)
(A) Netherlands-Slovakia 22-2 (6-0, 4-0, 8-0, 4-2)

Day 2 - Wednesday 20 January
14.00 (B) Hungary-Kazakhstan
16.00 (B) Greece-Israel
18.00 (A) Netherlands-Italy
20.00 (A) France-Slovakia

Day 3 - Thursday 21 January
14.00 (B) Hungary-Greece
16.00 (A) France-Netherlands
18.00 (A) Italy-Slovakia
20.00 (A) Israel-Kazakhstan

Quarter finals - Friday 22 January*
(13) 14:00 2A-3B
(14) 16:00 3A-2B
(15) 18:00 1A-4B
(16) 20:00 4A-1B

Semi finals - Saturday 23 January
(17) 14:00 LG13-LG16
(18) 16:00 LG14-LG15
(19) 18:00 WG13-WG16
(20) 20:00 WG14-WG15

Finals - Sunday 24 January
(21) 14:00 LG17-LG18
(22) 16:00 WG17-WG18
(23) 18:00 LG19-LG20
(24) 20:30 WG19-WG20

photo credit Andrea Staccioli / DBM