Gwangju, South Korea.— The second day of the FINA World Championship men's water polo tournament at the Nambu University Grounds in Gwangju threw up some interesting results, including a sensational 10-10 draw between Greece and Montenegro.
The final group of the day provided a fantastic 10-10 draw between Montenegro and Greece. It was Greece's second 10-10 draw and now needs to beat Serbia on Friday for the group win. Montenegro dominated the middle two quarters but Greece levelled and took the lead, only for Montenegro to force the draw. Serbia rolled Korea 22-2 in a match made more exciting by the noisy and fervent spectators.
Group B opened proceedings with two lop-sided matches, Australia defeating Kazakhstan 17-8 and reigning champion Croatia downing United States of America 17-7. Croatia just needs to beat Kazakhstan for the direct entry to the quarterfinals while Australia and USA will play for second on Friday.
Group C had Hungary playing without its captain Denes Varga, who has a heavy strapped finger after breaking it in Monday's clash with New Zealand. The captain sat on the bench and watched his team-mates adjust to absence and beat Spain 13-11 after being 12-6 ahead at the final break. A Spanish resurgence was not enough for victory. New Zealand and South Africa battled to an 8-all draw, meaning they will await their results against the top team on Friday to see who goes into the top 12 on goal differential.
In Group D, the match of the tournament was between Italy and Japan, delighting the heavily packed stadium. Italy won 9-7 with eight of the goals coming in an action-packed third period. Italian captain Pietro Figlioli scored four goals. Germany marked the return of star player Marko Stamm, who was out with a suspected broken foot after the match against Japan on Monday. He has a damaged ligament and is heavily strapped, managing to net a remarkable five goals in the 15-8 march over Brazil.
Progress points:
Group A: Greece 3, Serbia 3, Montenegro 2, Korea 0.
Group B: Croatia 4, Australia 2, USA 2, Kazakhstan 0.
Group C: Hungary 4, Spain 2, New Zealand 1, South Africa 1.
Group D: Italy 4, Germany 3, Japan 1, Brazil 0.
Wednesday schedule
Match 9, 08:30, Group A, AUSTRALIA 17 KAZAKHSTAN 8
Match 10, 9.50, Group A, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 7 CROATIA 17
Match 11, 11:10, Group B, HUNGARY 13 SPAIN 11
Match 12, 12:30, Group B, SOUTH AFRICA 8 NEW ZEALAND 8
Match 13, 16:30, Group C, JAPAN 7 ITALY 9
Match 6 17:50, Group C, BRAZIL 8 GERMANY 15
Match 7, 19:10, Group D, GREECE 10 MONTENEGRO 10
Match 8, 20:30, Group D, SERBIA 22 KOREA 2