It was a day of open scoring on the third day of the FINA World Men’s Junior Water Polo Championships at the Swimming Complex Podolí, in Prague on Monday.

Results were beyond doubt early in all the matches as teams prepare for the tougher outings in the coming days ahead of the all-important quarterfinal berths being defined.

The Group B match-up between United States of America and Spain promised much as the day’s finale, but it was Spain who started strongly and then proceeded to win all the quarters for the 20-10 victory.

Unai Biel, who scored twice against Serbia in their tied Sunday match, netted four goals as Spain shrugged off USA at 3-3 to close the quarter at 6-3, turn at 9-5 and head into the final period 16-9 after a blistering period that included a buzzer-beater from Biel.

Nicholas Tierney and Carson Kranz crossed the line three times each for USA.

USA retains its Group B dominance on the strength of its two opening victories over Slovakia and Czech Republic and the fact that Spain and Serbia split their head to head on day two.

In the earlier Group B clash, Slovakia bettered Czech Republic 10-5, gaining its first victory in Prague. In was the battle of two lower teams in the group and gave them hope for the second half of the week when it comes to final-ranking matches. Four Slovaks scored twice each — Michal Varga, Patrik Adamec, Boris Juhasz and Marco Michal.

In Group A, Russia gained its second win following a rest day, downing Argentina 12-5 after leading 8-1 at halftime. Egor Vasilev notched five goals — four in the first-half blitz — before Argentina  regained confidence and won the third period 3-2 and only lost the fourth 2-1.

Italy, also in Group A and stunned 13-12 by Croatia in an unrewarding fourth quarter on Sunday, notched its first victory, defeating Uzbekistan by an incredible 40-1with the final two goals coming in the last minute. It was far from a hard workout for Italy, but first points on the board cannot be sneezed at. Matteo Iocchi led the charge with eight goals while all his field-playing team-mates also jumped into the goal-scoring action.

In Group C, Germany scored a pleasing second victory, downing Brazil 14-5. Both teams were shaky in the first period and then Germany broke away in the second stanza for 4-1 by halftime and won the next two periods 5-2. German goalkeeper Felix Benke was easily the best in water with 11 goal-denying saves while his opposite number, Murilo Moreira de Souza, blocked a credible 13. Zoran Bozic (GER) was the highest scorer with five.

In Group D, reigning champion Greece beat South Africa 21-5 after recovering from a slow start, trailing 2-1 in the first quarter when Dane Tucker scored from deep left for what would be considered a brilliant start by the Africans. There was only three goals difference in each of the next two periods before Greece fired the afterburners with a 7-0 closing quarter. Greece’s best was Efstathios Kalogeropoulos with six goals from eight attempts as the team lifts to two wins from two matches. Kalogeropoulos boosted his Prague tally to 13 goals.

Tuesday’s matches will shed a little light on group rankings as all groups will play two matches in the busiest day so far.

Greece and Montenegro will go for Group D dominance in the day’s opening match; Italy and Russia will prove eventful in Group A; Serbia and United States of America will impose their presence on Group B and the hot Group C match in the late evening will see Hungary take on Germany.

Monday results:

Group A: Russia 12 Argentina 5 (5-0, 3-1, 2-3, 2-1), Italy 40 Uzbekistan 1 (0-9, 0-7, 1-13, 0-11). Progress points: Russia 4, Croatia 4, Italy 2, Argentina 2, Uzbekistan 0.

Group B: Slovakia 10 Czech Republic 5 (2-2, 3-1, 4-1, 1-1), USA 10 Spain 20 (3-6, 2-3, 4-7, 1-4). Progress points: USA 4, Serbia 3, Spain 3, Slovakia 2, Czech Republic 0.

Group C: Germany 14 Brazil 5 (1-1, 3-0, 5-2, 5-2). Progress points: Germany 4, Hungary 2, Egypt 0, Brazil 0.

Group D: Greece 21 South Africa 5 (3-6, 0-3, 2-5, 0-7). Progress points: Greece 4, Montenegro 2, Kazakhstan 0, South Africa 0.