Serbia and Italy confirmed their presence in the Super Final of the 2017 FINA Men's Water Polo World League, after winning their respective games in the fifth round of the European preliminaries. On March 14, the Balkan team comfortably defeated Germany in Zrenjanin by 20-3, while the Italians were better than Russia in Palermo, winning by 12-9.
This outcome sealed the winners of Group A and Group C (the ones qualifying for the Super Final), with the sixth and final round still to go. Serbia has now 14 points in Group A, after triumphing in all the five matches it contested so far. The second place will go to Slovakia, who defeated Romania at home, by a tangential difference of 6-5.
In Group C, only with three teams, Italy has now nine points, and one game to play in the last round, against Georgia. Russia (six points) has completed its four matches.
More undecided is the qualifier in Group B, where the two leaders, Croatia and Greece also won their respective encounters (and now have 12 points each). In Vukovar, the Croatian players had no problems in defeating France 16-6, while the Netherlands couldn't shine at home, losing with the Hellenic squad 4-10 in Den Haag. In the last round, Greece will travel to France, while Croatia will receive the Dutch team.
The sixth and final round of the European preliminaries will take place on April 11, 2017 with the following matches: Romania-Germany; Serbia-Slovakia; Croatia-Netherlands; France-Greece; Georgia-Italy.
Current ranking after round 5
Group A: SRB 14pts (4W, 1Wp); SVK 8pts (2W, 2Lp, 1L); ROU 4pts (1W, 1Lp, 3L); GER 4pts (2Wp, 3L)
Group B: CRO 12pts (4W, 1L); GRE 12pts (4W, 1L); NED 6pts (2W, 3L); FRA 0pt (5L)
Group C: ITA 9pts (3W); RUS 6pts (2W, 2L); GEO 0pt (3L)