Water polo powerhouse Serbia grabbed their fifth consecutive FINA Water Polo World League title, and their 11th gold medal, this weekend in Ruza, Russia, where the decisive tournament of the competition, the Super Final, was held.
Serbia narrowly defeated Italy 10-9 (4-1, 0-2, 2-5, 3-2) in the gold match, while Croatia grabbed the bronze medal beating the U.S. 10-4 (5-1, 3-1, 1-1, 1-1).
Then Russia proved too strong for Kazakhstan and clinched the fifth place with 11 goals against 4 (1-2, 1-3, 1-1, 1-5). Finally, Australia gave Japan a hard time by winning 11-4 (2-0, 3-2, 4-1, 2-1), for place 7-8.
Final ranking
1. Serbia, 2. Italy, 3. Croatia, 4. USA, 5. Russia, 6. Kazakhstan, 7. Australia, 8. Japan
Read matches reports here
A total of 17 teams contested this year’s edition of the World League, which run from October 2016 to April 2017 for the European preliminaries and included also an Intercontinental Tournament disputed from April 25-30.
Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA)
The Fédération Internationale de Natation, founded in 1908, is the governing body for aquatics worldwide. FINA’s five discipline Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Diving, Water Polo and Synchronised Swimming – are all included in the Olympic programme. High Diving made its first appearance in FINA events at the 2013 FINA World Championships. FINA counts 207 affiliated National Federations on the five continents and has its headquarters in Lausanne (SUI).
Press Release courtesy of FINA.