The men's competition produced some interesting matches on day one with the standout being Montenegro's 17-16 sudden-death penalty shootout victory over United States of America. But the real story was Montenegrin captain Peter Tesanovic's five penalty saves — two in regulation and three in the shootout.
In men’s water polo competition in the Aspire Dome for the first day's play, Spain beat South Africa 21-5, Greece beat China 24-6, France defeated Brazil 16-11 and Croatia downed Australia 13-8. In the second session, Serbia blasted Japan 17-10; Montenegro overcame United States of America 16-15 in sudden-death penalty shootout after the match was tied at 11; Italy hammered Kazakhstan 33-3; and Hungary finished off Romania 15-8.
Match 6. Group C, Montenegro 16 United States of America 15 in sudden-death penalty shootout (FT: 11-11. Pens 5-4).
Montenegro emerged from a sudden-death penalty shootout thanks to the amazing stopping power of captain Petar Tesanovic (above), who blocked two in regular time and three in the shootout.
Montenegro, one of the main teams chasing a Paris Olympics berth, was on the backfoot as USA scored first through Alex Bowen. However, by the first break, Montenegro was holding the ace cards with a 3-1 advantage, thanks to a nine-metre, last-gasp goal to Vasilje Radovic.
The second period favoured USA with Luca Cupido drilling from the top and Bowen firing in another two — one from penalty. Montenegro twice went out by two goals but Bowen’s penetrating shot at 0:10 had the halftime score at 5-4 favouring Montenegro.
Montenegro came back in the third to win 4-3 with Dusan Matkovic hitting his second and Miroslav Perkovic — his second — making it 9-7 with 32 seconds remaining. Hannes Daube netted twice in the period for USA.
Bowen for a fourth and Ryder Dodd drew the match level by 5:24 in the fourth quarter. Vlado Popadic converted a penalty not long before Montenegrin Aljosa Macic was red-carded. Dodd struck again with a vicious doughnut shot over Tesanovic’s head at 3:04 for 10-10. Aleksa Ukropina converted extra for 11-10; Max Irving had his penalty blasted back by Tesanovic at 2:08. Bowen rocketed in a missile from the right at 1:01 for 11-11 and, despite a timeout each, neither side could score, forcing the shootout.
The first two shots were blocked and by the end of the rotation both teams were unsuccessful with two. In sudden death, the first three went in and Max Irving’s final attempt was hammered back by Tesanovic who was naturally named player of the match.
Match Heroes
Tesanovic with those five penalty-shot saves and Ukropina sent in three goals. USA’s best was Bowen with six goals.
Turning Point
USA coming from 4-2 down to 6-6 and then 9-9 after being 8-6 behind. USA had to level at 10 and 11 to go to the penalty line.
Stats Don’t Lie
Montenegro went six from seven on extra-man attack and USA two from six. This and the better penalty shooting gave Montenegro the win, albeit just two points.
Bottom Line
Both team could get through to the medal round. Both teams will be better for the encounter.
What They Said
Petar Tesanovic (MNE) — Captain/Goalkeeper With Five Penalty Saves
On how many penalty saves he has made in a single match in his career before tonight:
“I think a maximum of three in a game This was an exceptional night, for sure. I saved like four or five penalties.”
On tonight’s encounter:
“It was a very tough match. USA is an amazing team. They will, for sure, be one of the favourites to win a medal here. They’re a good squad. We managed to beat them. It’s always good to start a tournament with a win but the group, I think, is the toughest of the tournament, so already in two days we will play against Serbia and it will be tough as hell.”
Drasko Brguljan (MNE) — Goal Scorer
On the shootout victory:
“On the whole match, it was very difficult to play. USA is a very strong team, physical; they’re amazing; with (Ben) Hallock at centre and (Alex) Bowen and all others. They are a very good team but from the beginning we didn’t play good, I think. We had like, I don’t know, we were very slow. We didn’t want that but in the end it was good. We had two goals and then again two goals and after the third quarter. US is a good team. It’s a drawn match and we won. We were lucky and with Tesanovic, he was amazing today.”
Stefan Vidovic (MNE) — Penalty Scorer
On the win:
“I’m so sorry that we didn’t win after regular time because in this moment it was better, but we need to learn how to handle this situation better. We started the last quarter with a two-goal advantage but at the end we won on penalty. In the end we are happy to win and we need to continue like this.”
Dejan Udovicic (USA) — Head Coach
On the loss:
“It was a tough game. I think that … yeah penalties. We need to continue to play and fight. This is the first game of the tournament and that’s it.”
Match 8. Group D, Romania 8 Hungary 15
World champion Hungary came together and those players who did not contest the European championships looked refreshed and eager to build on the title from Fukuoka last year.
It was Bogdan Rath’s Romania who made the early play after Vamos Marton started the scoring for Hungary. A Romania pair took the 2-1, but it was Hungary who led 5-2 at the first break. Those four goals — by four different players — gave the basis for success so early on.
Romania shot back into contention with the next two early in the second quarter. However, fortunes can change so quickly at this level and Hungary settled in comfortably with Manhercz Krisztian, captain Jansik Szilard and Nagy Adam doubling the Romanian score at 8-4. Romania had a penalty attempt rejected by Vogel Soma (above) who impressed so much in Fukuoka last year with his disdain for penalty shooters. Tudor-Andre Fulea’s attempt at a second goal helped spearhead Hungary into further action with superstar leftie Zalanki Gergo pushing the score to 10-4 by halftime.
Goals were traded at the top of the third quarter and Vogel smacked down another penalty attempt. Angyal Daniel steered in a ball on extra for 12-5. Andrei Prioteasa did what two of his team-mates could not — score a penalty against Vogel — and on the next Romanian attack Fulea punched in a driving shot for 12-7.
It was harder going for Hungary in the last quarter as goals were traded before Manhercz and Jansik scored goals in the last three minutes for 15-8.
Match Heroes
Zalanki was his usual dominant self for Hungary while Vamos also sent in three goals. Fulea and Vlad-Luca Georgescu were Romania’s double scorers.
Turning Point
The four goals in the first quarter that brought Hungary from 2-1 down to 5-2 ahead.
Stats Don’t Lie
Hungary had three from seven on extra to Romania’s two from four — so Romania better there — but it was the 54-35 better shooting percentage for the world champions that gained the victory.
Bottom Line
Italy will gain an Olympic berth here, but it remains to be seen whether a medal comes as a bonus. Romania looks strong and as an outsider for Paris 2024, there were positive vibes coming from the team.
What They Said
Varga Zsolt (HUN) — Head Coach
On the win:
"We had some fine defensive moves but also committed mistakes in the back. The players were probably a bit more tense since this was our first match at the worlds. We managed to dismantle our rivals’ resistance step by step and there were periods in the match which I liked very much. The most important was that we start playing, put our mechanisms into work and we can move on and use everything we learnt in this game for our progress. We have to limit our opponents to fewer goals, for sure.”
Szilard Jansik (HUN) — Captain
On the first-up win:
"It was a typical opening match with all the usual tensions and mistakes. We can be satisfied with the win but we need to correct a lot of things. We started playing our man-ups slowly and then hurried the finishes, took shots in half-chances, which gave room for our rivals to launch counters. And, without downgrading them, if the Romanians could initiate counters then the Italians will do a lot more of that, so we need to analyse those situations and improve our game.”
Bogdan Rath (ROU) — Head Coach
On the match:
“I’m a bit unhappy; some mistakes. It’s a young team and they are making mistakes. They have to. They need more practice, more games. We just came in after 11 years and I hope we stay much more time to improve because those games help us to improve a lot. On the other side I am happy because we do good a good part — defence. We have good parts and bad parts.”
Match 7. Group D, Italy 33 Kazakhstan 3
Italy went on a romp against Kazakhstan, showing the gap between west and east.
Most Italian attacks found the net and at quarter time it was 6-1 while the halftime buzzer registered 16-2 on the scoreboard.
The third period stretched the secretary’s handwriting skills with a 24-3 margin, which eventually became 33-3 by the final buzzer.
Match Heroes
All the Italians were heroes with all the field players scoring. It was a Giacomo Canella who led the scoring with seven goals from nine attempts and Edoardo Di Somma sending in five from seven.
Turning Point
The opening whistle.
Stats Don’t Lie
Italy converted four from five on extra to Kazakhstan’s none from two. Italy 63 to 14 per cent on shots.
Bottom Line
Italy was too good for Kazakhstan and gave plenty of match exercise to the team eager to qualify for Paris 2024.
Match 5. Group C, Japan 10 Serbia 17
Serbia might have finished comfortably, but it was a different matter at the start. Who would have thought that Japan would lead Serbia 2-0 and 3-1? It took some time for Serbia to regroup and send in five straight to gain the ascendency for the first time. It was 4-3 at the quarter as Nikola Lukic jammed in a shot from deep left on extra at 0:01.
Captain Nikola Jaksic made sure of goals five and six to start the second quarter and have Serbia comfortably at 6-3. Okawa Keigo and Takata Mitsuru, for his second, both shot from eight metres to narrow the margin to one. Dusan Mandic with a second and Jaksic with a third regained the three-goal difference. Youngster Inoue Kai on extra and Inaba Yusuke with a counter-attack lob drew Japan to one at 8-7 just before halftime.
Inaba levelled at the top of the third but Croatia made sure of a two-goal gap, including another from Nikola Jaksic. Serbia went to a timeout and Sava Randelovic, who scored the 9-8 go-ahead goal, was on the right post to score on extra, followed by a Strahinja Rasovic counter-attack goal for a huge four-goal margin. It became five when Mandic converted extra in the dying seconds — 13-8.
Strahinja Rasovic started the fourth quarter with a pair for 15-8. Japan responded with two and Serbia finished the action with two more for 17-10.
Match Heroes
Nikola Jaksic was the star with four goals and team-mates Mandic and Strahinja Rasovic claimed three apiece. Japan had three players on two goals.
Turning Point
From 3-1 down to 6-3 ahead in the second quarter, and onwards to victory.
Stats Don’t Lie
Serbia shot five from nine on extra to Japan’s three from eight. The overall shooting was 49 to 34 per cent.
Bottom Line
Serbia is the better team, although Japan loves to upset teams. Japan has two youngsters under 18 and now has two left-handers who will grow with the team.
What They Said
Branislav Mitrovic (SRB) — Goalkeeper
On playing Japan:
“I need to go a little more back. We came here for world championship, Olympics visa. We know that our group is hard. Japan is also a hard team, so this is the first game of the tournament, always something difficult, especially when you are playing someone who is not playing usual water polo, like Japan. So, I think we started a little bit nervous, but how the game was going on and on we wanted to play our game and you could see that everyone can say that Serbia win easily, but it was not an easy game. My opinion is that it is good we have this kind of match today, so we need to do a big think and how we can be better the next game.”
Shiota Yoshinori (JPN) — Head Coach
On being similar to last year’s clash in Fukuoka — lost 21-13:
“Same like in Fukuoka. The third quarter was not so good for us. It’s the same like Fukuoka, we lost the six on five. We want to fix this issue but we couldn’t today, again. A good start. This was our plan but the third quarter (lost 5-1).”
Suzuki Toi (JPN) — Captain
On starting well:
“From past practice, we employed a zone defence for the first time against such a strong teams as Serbia and that worked out very well but our shots were not as good as we wanted them to be.”
On playing up to the Serbians’ level:
“I think we have improved and we will catch up with them and win.”
Match 1. Group A, Croatia 13 Australia 8
Croatia warmed up for its second match — against European champion Spain — with a resounding victory over the Aussie Sharks.
Loren Fatovic set the scene with the first two Croatian goals that gave the team a 5-1 quarter-time advantage. Rino Buric scored twice with one from the penalty line.
It was quickly at 7-1 and 9-3 by the halftime break. Australia converted extra through Marcus Berehulak and Luke Pavillard drove deep right for 8-3, but Marko Zuvela gained his second 28 second from the buzzer, on extra.
The third quarter was even with Jerko Marinic Kragic gaining his second for Croatia and Pavillard a second for the Aussie Sharks. Croatia was well in control at 11-5.
The final quarter was tight, as well, and actually went the way of the Aussies — 3-2. The last two strikes came in the last minute for 13-8.
Match Heroes
Loncar topped the Croatian scoring with three goals and Pavillard and Berehulak scored twice each for Australia.
Turning Point
Croatia taking complete control at 7-1 and not needing to expend too much energy for the remainder of the match.
Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia had an 8/12 scoring ratio on extra man to Australia’s 3/8. Scoring 50 per cent compared to 29 was a bonus for the Europeans.
Bottom Line
Croatia has yet to qualify for the Olympics and this match was important to utilise players and prepare mentally for the tougher matches to come. Australia will similarly gain something from this match that should help for the rest of the tournament with an eye on Paris.
What They Said
Rino Buric (CRO) — Two Goals
On the first match:
“The first match of the tournament is always hard. It was hard. We played really well in the first and second quarter. We scored nine goals and gave up just two or three and after in the third or fourth quarter we slowed down.”
On what’s coming up:
“Now we have one day’s rest. The game against Spain will be a totally different game from this one and I hope that we can stay on track.”
Marko Bijac (CRO) — Goalkeeper
On winning first up:
“We wanted to open the tournament as we finished a few weeks ago with the European Championships. We wanted to be aggressive, to be tough in defence not to allow any easy goals. I believe we did it really good, especially in the opening half. The game we managed to get a good result in the first half and let’s say keep the distance from the Australian team. I believe we can be satisfied with the opening of the tournament and we must rest now and prepare for the next game which will be even more difficult, against Spain.”
Tim Hamill (AUS) — Head Coach
On the match:
“We’ve been really happy with our preparation and had a really good tour through Europe in December with Greece and Italy. We hosted Japan in January, so we’ve been really happy. However, the first half of the game today was very disappointing for us. I’m not sure whether the moment got to us, whether in our heads a little bit, nerves, so we will look at the game this afternoon and assess all that. Yes, we fought back well in the second half against obviously a quality opposition, but we need to start our game much better.”
Match 4. Group B, Brazil 11 France 16
France proved its worth as an Olympic host and provided an excellent performance, going 3-0 up before Brazilian Rafael Real fired in from halfway on a free throw, two seconds from time.
France had the advantage in the second quarter as Brazil tried to keep pace, leading 4-2, 4-3, 5-4 and 7-4. Real nailed his third for 7-5, but France had the 8-5 halfway lead.
French captain Ugo Crousillat converted his second penalty goal to start the second half. Brazil’s Luis Silva had his rebound shot confirmed by VAR for 9-6. Super centre forward Thomas Vernoux, who scored three times in the first half, scored twice more in the third, the first with an excellent turn at two metres and the second by spinning around the goalkeeper and placing the ball over the line. Brazilian captain Gustavo Guimaraes scored his second, this time from the penalty line, and Crousillat drove to the right post and accepted a cross pass for 12-7. Alexandre Bouet was denied his third goal by Brazilian goalkeeper Guilherme Barella from the penalty shot, and even though he grabbed the rebound in the dying seconds, he pushed it under.
Crousillat whipped in his fourth off the left arm to start the fourth and Pedro Real responded from the penalty line for 13-9. Goals were traded, Vernoux fired in a cannon from eight metres for his sixth and Rafael Real had his fifth from 11 attempts as the final minute approached. Michael Bodegas slapped in a short cross pass from three metres at 0:51 and 16-11 proved a healthy winning margin.
Match Heroes
Vernoux (below) was the best by far with six from six. His balance and surging, shooting style played havoc with Brazil’s defence. Crousillat took home four goals. Rafael Real’s five goals for Brazil kept his team in the match and Guimaraes chimed in with three.
Turning Point
That three-goal start kept the buffer zone humming for France.
Stats Don’t Lie
France went three from eight and Brazil four from 11 on extra-man attack but it was France’s 55-38 lead in shooting percentage that earned the victory.
Bottom Line
France is the team to give Greece a challenge for the group supremacy while Brazil will get better as the week evolves.
What They Said
Florian Bruzzo (FRA) — Head Coach
On winning being the day’s target:
“Yes, it was, but it was not a convincing win. We can be a little bit frustrated. The decisions we took were late, but it was a little heavy, but it was too slow today but a good lesson.”
Ugo Crousillat (FRA) — Captain and Four Goals
On winning:
“We won, which was the most important goal. If you speak about the performance, I think we didn’t play so well, especially in the defence we received too much goals, This is the first goal of the tournament. We need to be positive and again.”
On whether there were any good parts:
“There were not so many best parts. All the time when they came back into the game, they shoot a few goals. We didn’t follow the path.”
Match 3. Group B, China 6 Greece 24
The chasm between the best European teams and the best teams outside Europe is immense as Greece showed against China. To be fair, China is re-emerging after Covid while the Greeks have been riding the crest of a wave in recent years with its veterans all performing to the highest level.
Greece went to the first break at 4-1 and turned at 10-1 with plenty of players scoring. Dimitrios Nikolaidis relished his time at centre forward with consecutive goals, the first from the top and the second a snap backhander for 4-1. He scored the eighth goal, again from point blank. Stylianos Argyropoulos scored twice from the top to close the scoring.
In the third period, it was Konstantinos Genidounias who opened with a pair for his third goal as Greece continued to dominated all phases of play. Chu Chenghao delighted the schoolchildren as he scored China’s second goal from the left at 13-2. However, Genidounias smashed in a rocket and Xie Zekai was equally effective for 14-3. Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis claimed two and Greece was at 16-3. Zhang Chufeng brought up China’s fourth goal — on extra — and Gkiouvetsis snapped in his third on extra from the deep left with two seconds remaining and 17-4.
China was kept at bay in the fourth as Greece rattled in seven more, including two penalty goals. That was until inside the final minute when Xie picked up his second goal and Zhang Jinpeng drilled the last at 0:10 for 24-6.
Match Heroes
Genidounias with five goals , Gkiouvetsis with four and Argyropoulos with three, led the Greek charge.
Turning Point
Greece shrugging off China at 2-1 and keeping the door shut for nearly 16 minutes and 13-1.
Stats Don’t Lie
Greece converted three from seven on extra-man attack and China was not far behind with three from eight. The 65-22 per cent difference had Greece sitting on a pedestal.
Bottom Line
Greece is here for a medal and has the team to do it. China is learning fast and will need that knowledge for the next two clashes with France and Brazil.
What They Said
Theodoros Vlachos (GRE) — Head Coach
On the first match:
“I knew that we could not be surprised by the China team. The quality of both teams is not close. I believe our teams is really more quality. But we were serious and tried to do everything and tried to play like against a best opponent, but I’m satisfied. I want to arrive in the third game against France, which will probably decide the group. We are mentally ready and step by step we will see what we can do.”
Ivan Asic (CHN) — Head Coach
On the match:
“The match was not even at all. Greece this time is much, much better than us. Much more experienced. It was very tough for us to play against such a good opponent first game of the tournament. We were a lot impressed with their players and their style. Was big victory for Greece.”
Match 2. Group A, South Africa 5 Spain 21
Spain proved that being European champion brings certain responsibilities and that is to entertain, score plenty of goals and display un erring skills. This Spain did at the expense of Africa’s best water polo nation — South Africa.
Spain ripped to 5-0 before South Africa converted a penalty foul and trailed 6-1 at the quarter break.
Spain went seven straight in the second quarter with Unai Biel collecting two and captain Felipe Perrone and centre forward Miguel del Toro picking up their second goals.
It was the same in the third, but with just four goals to Spain. At 19-1 in the fourth, South Africa lit up and Sven van Zyl ripped in three goals off his left arm and Jonathan Swanepoel gained a second off extra as South Africa turned the result to 21-5.
Match Heroes
Alvaro Granados (above) and Biel hit four goals each with Del Toro scoring three. Van Zyl for South Africa, surely.
Turning Point
There wasn’t one, although the South African charge in the fourth for 4-4 was a revelation.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain converted six from nine on extra to South Africa’s two from five. The 64 per cent shooting for Spain was far superior that the 21 per cent for South Africa.
Bottom Line
Spain is here to win. South Africa is here to win a match. For both, that will, no doubt, occur in the second week.
What They Said
David Martin (ESP) — Head Coach
On the match:
“For us it is important for all the players to be ready to the second game with Croatia because it is the game of the group, I think.”
After winning the Europeans:
“That’s in the past. Now it is another history, another tournament. I feel the European Championships was very hard for all the European teams. We were tired in the first days after the preparation but I think the most important thing is to be strong in the second week. Past tomorrow is the most important game against Croatia. I think we are ready.”
Jon de Cavalho (RSA) — Head Coach
On the match:“It’s always going to be hard. We’re playing the current European champion. They’re coming off a massive preparation at European champs in the lead-up, obviously, to this tournament. We’ve been sitting in the midst of our break in our season and not having a lot of time together. I was brought into the team very late in the preparation, as well. Getting everyone on board, for our ideas and way of working, it was a struggle. So, we could see into the first and going into the second, that chukka where we were a little bit down. A bit of zone from their side helped us gain a little but more confidence and move around and then we got the confidence, also, on our defence to press a little bit better and it looked better by the end of the game, which was nice.”
Progress Points
Group A: Spain 3, Croatia 3, Australia 0, South Africa 0.
Group B: Greece 3, France 3, Brazil 0, China 0.
Group C: Serbia 3, Montenegro 2, USA 1, Japan 0.
Group D: Italy 3, Hungary 3, Romania 0, Kazakhstan 0.
Day 4 Schedule
Match 09. 09:00. Group B, France v China
Match 10. 10:30. Group B, Greece V Brazil
Match 11. 12:00. Group C, United States of America v Japan
Match 16. 13:30. Group A, Australia v South Africa
Match 14. 16:00. Group D, Kazakhstan v Romania
Match 12. 17:30. Group C, Serbia v Montenegro
Match 15. 19:00. Group A, Spain v Croatia
Match 13. 20:30. Group D, Hungary v Italy