Croatia won their first gold medal at the FINA Water Polo Youth Men’s Championships this weekend, beating the home team Montenegro for the 2016 Gold.
The FINA Youth Water Polo World Championships is an international water polo tournament held every two years for players under age 18. This year marks the third time this tournament has been held. The players competed in Podgorica, Montenegro playing a total of 72 matches from August 26th until September 3rd.
The preliminary rounds took place during the first five days of the tournament. On day two the United States competed in the second preliminary round where they won 22-4 over China. Day three, the Unites States competed in the third preliminary round and lost 14-16 to Croatia. On days four and five the US competed against New Zealand winning 18-9 and Serbia losing 7-12, moving the team on to compete in the Eight Final Round on August 31.
In the Eight Final Round, the US lost 8-15 to Russia, however they still moved on to play Japan in the 9th to 12th place semi-finals where they beat Japan 16-13. On September 2nd, the US finished in 10th place after losing the 9th place final round to Spain with a score of 10-12.
The Final Round of the tournament started on September 3rd with teams competing for the top 8 spots. Four matches between eight teams were held. The final eight teams consisted of Australia, Russia, Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro.
Croatia and Montenegro competed for the Gold medal. Croatia won with a final score of 16-13 giving them their first medal from this competition. Montenegro took silver, also their first medal from this tournament. Hungary and Italy competed in the final for the Bronze medal. Hungary took the Bronze with a score of 12-8, making this their third year finishing in the top three. The final results for the top eight of the tournament were:
- Croatia
- Montenegro
- Hungary
- Italy
- Serbia
- Greece
- Russia
- Australia
For all match results, please click here