Water Polo WORLD CUP Almaty (KAZ), DAY 4: SERBIA-CROATIA AND HUNGARY-USA SEMIFINAL

MONTENEGRO 5 CROATIA 5:6 (2-1, 1-1, 0-3, 2-1)

MONTENEGRO: Dejan Lazovic, Marko Vukmirovic, Nikola Markovic, Stefan Vidovic, Darko Brguljan (2), Bogdan Durdic, Dorde Bulatovic (1), Jovan Saric (1), Radovan Latinovic, Nikola Murisic, Filip Klikovac, Uros Cuckovic (2), Slaven Kandic. Head Coach: Ranko Perovic.

CROATIA: Marko Bijac, Luka Bukic, Ivan Milakovic, Marino Divkovic, Ante Vukicevic, Ivan Buljubasic (1), Petar Muslim (3), Kristijan Milakovic, Ante Viskovic, Duje Zivkovic, Andelo Setka (1), Marko Macan (1), Ivan Marcelic. Head Coach: Ivica Tucak.

Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
Extra Man: MNE: 2/6. CRO: 1/8     
Pens: Nil.

MNE vs CRO - credit: Russell McKinnon

Montenegro may have led 2-0 in the first few minutes of the match, but Croatia ground out the one-goal victory and advancement to the semifinals. Montenegro could not breach Croatia’s defence enough and scoring the last two goals meant that in a 27-minute period, it only managed one goal, and that was a second to Uros Cuckovic at 2:29 in the second period, a score that took Montenegro 3-2 ahead.  Both defences worked overtime and the goalkeepers were also excellent. Peter Muslim proved a differential that Montenegro could not replicate. He scored three goals — one a few seconds after the extra-man period had expired, which would have given Croatia a better statistic than the one-from-eight it achieved — and a screamer from the top, down the line to secure a 5-3 lead heading into the final quarter. Darko Brguljan sparked Montenegro’s revival at 2:40 in the last and Dorde Bulatovic followed up with a straight shot down the right a minute later. Croatia took a timeout at 0:39 and earned an exclusion, keeping the ball until the result was decided.


SOUTH AFRICA 1 HUNGARY  1:15 (0-3, 0-5, 0-4, 1-3)

SOUTH AFRICA: Dwayne Flatscher, Etienne Le Roux, Devon Card, Ignardus Badenhorst, Nicholas Rodda, Joao Marco De Carvalho, Lodewyk Rabie, Jared Wingate-Pearse, Dean Whyte, Pierre Le Roux (1), Christopher Baker, Nicholas Hock, Julian Lewis. Head Coach: Paul Martin.

HUNGARY: Attila Decker, Miklos Gor-Nagy (1), Norbert Madaras (3), Balazs Erdelyi (3), Bence Batori (3), Norbert Hosnyanszky, Adam Decker (1), Daniel Angyal, Daniel Varga (1), Denes Varga (1), Krisztian Bedo (2), Balazs Harai, Marton Levai. Head Coach: Tibor Benedek.

Referees: Masoud Rezvani (IRI), Mark Maretzki (USA)
Extra Man: RSA: 0/5. HUN: 7/11.
Pens: RSA: 0/1

RSA vs HUN - credit: Russell McKinnon

Hungary moved into the semifinals as expected against South Africa and honed some attacking skills for the weekend’s matches. South Africa was no match, but tried all the same and finally made the scoresheet when Pierre Le Roux sent in a bouncer that just missed a teammate’s head, curved off the water and hit the corner wood for 13-1 at 5:44 in the last quarter. Hungary was happy to have back captain Daniel Varga who suffered an allergic reaction to celery he had inadvertently eaten, according to brother Denes. He was sadly missed in the final-round match against Australia on Thursday when the clash was drawn at 8-8. Most of the team scored in the clash with South Africa and those not in the normal starting lineup gained valuable pool time before Saturday’s semifinal with United States of America. Hungary’s extra-man-attack skills were also evident.


SERBIA 16 KAZAKHSTAN  16:10 (6-2, 3-3, 4-3, 3-2)

SERBIA: Stefan Zivodinovic, Strahinja Rasovic (4), Dimitrije Obradovic (1), Dusan Markovic (1), Gavril Subotic (1), Nikola Eskert, Dusan Mandic (2), Viktor Rasovic (1), Sava Randelovic (2), Dusan Vasic, Srdan Vuksanovic (4), Dimitrije Risticevic. Head Coach: Dejan Savic.

KAZAKHSTAN: Makhmetov Madikhen, Sergey Gubarev (1), Yevgeniy Medvedev, Roman Pilipenko (2), Vladimir Ushakov (1), Alexey Shmider (4), Murat Shakenov (1), Anton Koliadenko, Rustam Ukumanov, Mikhail Ruday, Ravil Manafov, Branko Pekovich (1), Valeriy Shlemov. Head Coach: Sergey Drozdov.

Referees: Liang Zhang (CN), Ian Melliar (RSA).
Extra Man: SRB: 5/7. KAZ: 6/13.
Pens: SRB: 0/1. KAZ: 0/1

SRB vs KAZ - credit: Russell McKinnon

Serbia did what was asked of head coach Dejan Savic against Kazakhstan in a match fronted by the largest crowd of the week. However, buoyed on by the crowd, Kazakhstan rose to the occasion and showed why it will be a strong contender for gold at next month’s Asian Games in Incheon, Korea. Behind 6-2 at the quarter, by halftime Kazakhstan had gained respect with a 3-3 period and Savic at times was cajoling his team into better things. That second period was a blip on Serbia’s radar. The third period was not that much better for Serbia as Kazakhstan maintained the pressure and almost went goal for goal. It could have been even if Vladimir Ushakov had converted a penalty attempt early in the third period when 9-6. Led by captain Dusan Mandic, Serbia slipped out to 11-6 with the aid of speedster Strahinja Rasovic, who is having a great week in Almaty. Alexey Schmider grabbed two goals either side of a Strahinja Rasovic counter-attack goal and the match was 13-8 at the final break. Serbia went to 15-8 before Branko Pekovich lobbed for 15-9. Srdan Vuksanovic countered, as did Sergey Gubarev, who finished the match with a push shot past the Serbian goalkeeper and a respectable 10 goals. Savic was unhappy with his charges and will be seeking better defence for the medal finals. Nemanda Ubovic was absent from the Serbian lineup having incurred a brutality foul for allegedly striking the head of an opponent in the third quarter of Thursday’s clash with United States of America.