Hungary Battles Back From Opening Day Loss To Take The Gold

Hungary wins 16th FINA World Cup

After a lot of excitements  ndu surprises in the previous five days of the 16th World Cup in Berlin, the last day didn’t offer thrilling matches. Favorites beat their respective rivals convincingly and with an ease.

Hungary blew away Australia in the final game. Serbia beat Hungary in the match for the bronze medal. Croatia took the 5th place, the USA finished as the 6th, Japan as 7th and South Africa took the last place.

Aaron Younger (Australia) was voted the MVP of the tournament. Moritz Schenkel (Germany) was chosen as the best goalkeeper, while Gavril Subotic from Serbia was the best scorer (17 goals)

FINAL HUNGARY -AUSTRALIA

Hungary and Australia met for the 2nd time at the competition. Hungary posted a narrow win in the group stage (9:8), but today’s final game didn’t look like the one in Group A.

The close battle was seen only in the first quarter and a half. It was 2:2 in the 10th minute. The Hungarians built a 4:2 lead by the halftime and they ruled the field in the 3rd period. They extended their streak with four goals and before the last period they were 8:2 up!

Australia’s captain ended his team’s long scoreless period, which lasted 14:25 minutes, as he hit the back of the net for 8:3. Hungary didn’t need a lot of time to respond with two goals (10:3) in less than a minute. After the last buzzer at the 2016 World Cup, the score was 10:4.

The Hungarians started the World Cup with a shocking 10:12 loss to Hungary, but they managed to return on the right track. This was the first gold for Hungary after five years and the 2013 World Championships. Hungary won its 4th medal in the history of the World Cup, 10th in a total (4 golds, 4 silver, 2 bronze medals). Australia clinched its 2nd medal in the competition. Before Berlin, they had reached the podium in 1993 (bronze).

FOR BRONZE: SERBIA – GERMANY

Olympic champion Serbia defeated host Germany with a 6-goal margin (15:9). The beginning of the game was balanced. The teams were tied in the 5th minute (2:2). By the end of the 1st period, Serbia stormed to a 6:2 lead. The Serbs scored 4 goals in a span of 2:51 minutes. In the middle of the 2nd period, they went 8:3 up. Despite the fact that the end of the match was far away at that moment, it was less and more clear there was no way back for the home side. The Germans didn’t give up, but the confident Serbian team didn’t let them take control. Nemanja Vico, the best scorer of the match, scored his 4th goal to increase Serbia’s advantage to 7 early in the fourth period (13:6). In the remaining time, the Olympic and the European champions, which played with only 5 players from the European Championship in Barcelona, kept the win easily.

This was the 5th medal in the World Cup for Serbia in a row, after bronze 2002 and three consecutive golds (2006, 2010, 2014). Serbia is the most successful nation in the history of the competition, with 5 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronze medals (medals of Yugoslavia are included in summa).

FOR PLACES 5TH – 8TH

Croatia took the 5th place. The world champions didn’t have any problems in a clash with the USA. The Croats conceded just one goal in the first two periods. They were 5:1 up at halftime. The third quarter was pretty balanced and before the last period, the Croats was 5 goals ahead (8:3). Garcia found the net in Croatia’s first possession in the last period, and the “Barracudas” earned a 9:3 lead. There was no doubt about the outcome. After that, the world champions had no motives anymore. The USA didn’t slow down and Croatia posted a 10:7 victory.

In the match for the 7th place, Japan trashed South Africa 21:9. The best African team is still far away from the rivals from other continents.

16TH FINA WORLD CUP IN BERLIN, DAY 6

Final

HUNGARY 10:4 AUSTRALIA
(2:1, 2:1, 4:0, 2:2)

Hungary:Manhercz 4, Batori 2, Pasztor 2, Zalnaki 2.
Australia:Kayes, Power, Younger, Ford.

For places 3th – 4th

SERBIA 15:9 GERMANY
(6:2, 3:2, 3:2, 3:3)

Serbia: Vico 4, S. Rasovic 3, V. Rasovic 2, Subotic 2, Lazic 2, Mandic, Randjelovic.
Germany: Real 3, Strelezkij 2, Schulz, Stamm, Restovic, Eidner.

For places 5 – 6

USA 7:10 CROATIA
(0:1, 1:4, 2:3, 4:2)

USA: Hallock 2, Cupido 2, Stevenson 2, Obert.
Croatia: Fatovic 3, Basic 2, Buslje 2, Milos, Garcia Gadea, Macan.

For places 7 – 8

JAPAN 21:9 SOUTH AFRICA
(4:1, 9:2, 4:3, 4:3)

Japan: Inaba 5, Yoshida 4, Adachi 3, Okawa 3, Koppu 2, Suzuki 2, Takata, Araki.
South Africa:Rabie 4, Coryndon, Downes, Rodda, Spencer, Evezard.

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Hungary
2. Australia
3. Serbia
4. Germany
5. Croatia
6. USA
7. Japan
8. South Africa

ALL WINNERS

1979 Hungary
1981 USSR
1983 USSR
1985 FR Germany
1987 Yugoslavia
1989 Yugoslavia
1991 USA
1993 Italy
1995 Hungary
1997 USA
1999 Hungary
2002 Russia
2006 Serbia and Montenegro
2010 Serbia
2014 Serbia
2018 Hungary

From FINA:

Convincing Hungary claims gold in Berlin

FINA MEN'S WATER POLO WORLD CUP 2018

The team of Hungary won the gold medal of the 2018 FINA Men’s Water Polo World Cup, after beating Australia by 10-4 in the final match of the tournament, held in Berlin (GER), from September 11-16. The bronze medal of the competition went to Serbia, who comfortably defeated the host squad by 15-9. In the decisive game, the Magyars, silver medallists at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, took an important advantage of 4-2 over the Australians at the halftime. The third quarter was decisive for the final outcome, with the Hungarians scoring an essential 4-0. Despite a tie (2-2) in the last period, it was too late for the Aussies, who had to content with the silver medal. The best scorer of the final was Hungary’s Krisztian Manhercz, with four goals. It is the fourth victory of the Magyars in this competition, after previous successes in 1979, 1995 and 1999. For the Australians, this is their best ranking in the history of the 16 World Cups contested so far, after a bronze medal in 1993. The World Cup champions before the Berlin tournament, the team of Serbia, played the bronze medal match and had no difficulties in overcoming Germany. The Balkan squad, 2016 Olympic champion and five-time gold medallist in the World Cup (namely in the last three editions – 2006, 2010 and 2014), built-up their advantage in the first quarter, with a precious 6-2 lead. The subsequent periods were more balanced (3-2, 3-2 and 3-3), but the hosts couldn’t find the solutions to recover. In the match for the fifth place, Croatia, the 2017 world champion, faced the USA and was also the dominant force in a game that saw the Europeans with a 5-1 advantage at halftime. In the end, the North Americans lost by 7-10. Finally, in the game for places 7-8, Japan had an easy task against South Africa. The key period of the match was the second quarter, when the Asian team managed an unrecoverable score of 9-2. The final result was a convincing 21-9 for Japan, and the consequent seventh spot of the tournament. The best scorer of the competition was Gavril Subotic, from Serbia, who netted 17 goals throughout the six-day event. Final ranking of the 2018 FINA Men’s Water Polo World Cup: 1. Hungary; 2. Australia; 3. Serbia; 4. Germany; 5. Croatia; 6. United States; 7. Japan; 8. South Africa.