MELBOURNE, Australia, April 1. IN an exciting back-and-forth battle, Croatia knocked off Olympic champion Hungary, 9-8, in extratime for the men's water polo gold at the FINA World Championships.
Samir Barac and Pavo Markovic led a balanced scoring attack for Croatia with two goals apiece, while Gergely Kiss led Hungary with a match-high three goals.
3rd-Place Match
Spain edged Serbia, 18-17, after winning a penalty shootout, 9-8. Guillermo Molina shouldered the load for Spain with five goals, while Xavier Garcia added four. Vanja Udovicic and Vladimir Vujasinovic paced Serbia with four goals each.
5th-Place Match
Italy eked out a 16-15 triumph over Greece for fifth place. Italy won in a penalty shootout, 5-4. Maurizio Felugo tallied five goals to lead Italy, while teammate Fabrizio Buonocore notched a hat trick. Dimitros Mazis and Georgios Ntoskas lead Greece with three goals each.
7th-Place Match
Russia downed Germany, 11-8, in the seventh-place match. Dmitry Stratan totaled three goals to lead Russia, while Marc Politze paced Germany with four goals.
