Reigning champion  Greece was toppled from its pedestal on the fourth day of the FINA World Men’s Junior Water Polo Championships at the Swimming Complex Podolí, in Prague on Tuesday.

Montenegro was the thorn in Greece’s side, snatching a last-minute goal for a 9-8 Group D victory. It was Greece’s first loss since 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan when it finished fourth. Since then it has been unbeaten, although on August 6, 2017 it did have a 10-10 draw with Russia en route to that year’s title in Belgrade, Serbia and then went through unbeaten in Kuwait City in 2019.

Montenegro had the measure of Greece throughout in a match that had all quarters level until that winning goal.

A missed Greek penalty strike that hit the crossbar midway through the second quarter led to Montenegro gaining an advantageous VAR (Video Assisted Review) decision immediately afterwards for its first lead at 4-3. Greece evened it up just before halftime. Both teams had the lead in the third quarter before closing at the final break 6-6.

Montenegro went ahead 7-6, 8-7 and 9-8 in the final eight minutes in an engrossing match.

Danilo Radovic, who opened his account with that VAR decision, scored twice more to claim player-of-the-match kudos. However, Jovan Vujovic could be considered the match-winner with his lob from centre forward for 7-6 and his shot from the left for 8-7. The absolute winner came from the arm of Marko Mrsic at 0:57.

Montenegro came off a two-day break to secure its second win and is assured of group supremacy.

In the other Group D clash, South Africa secured what should be third place with a 10-8 margin over Kazakhstan. Ten of the goals came in the third period.

Group A produced a thriller with Russia snatching a 9-9 draw with Italy with an extra-man goal six seconds from full time.

Russia led 2-1 at the first break and 6-2 late in the second period and 6-3 at the halftime. Italy levelled at 6-6 and then took the 7-6 three-quarter break advantage with a splendid shutout. Italy led 8-7 and 9-8 in the final quarter only for Russia to equalise three times and that last goal from Daniil Ivannikov. 

In the other Group A face-off, Croatia went three straight by downing Uzbekistan 31-1. Petar Condic and Jerko Penava fired in five goals each for Croatia.

In Group B, Spain sent off Slovakia 15-5 and will progress to the quarterfinals along with Serbia who defeated United States of America 14-9. Both have winnable matches on day five.

Spain’s Marcel Teclas netted three goals as his team played better as the match went on, closing with a 3-0 quarter.

Serbian Stefan Brankovic nailed four goals and team-mate Vuk Milojevic produced some heroics against USA with the last two goals in just 16 seconds!

In Group C, Hungary ensured top slot by beating contender Germany 12-5 and Brazil nailed third place with its first victory, over winless Egypt, 9-8.

Hungary led 5-3 at halftime and threw in a massive 5-0 third quarter with the team’s top scorers being Akos Konarik and Vendel Vigvari with three goals each.

Brazil’s Bruno Chiappini produced a Herculean display of power and strong will with three of his five goals coming in the final quarter as his team had to come from three down at the last break to win the match.

Wednesday is the final day of group play, where teams jockey for final group placings ahead of the quarterfinals. The only head-to-head group decider will be played between Russia-Croatia in the first match of the day. Croatia just needs a draw and Russia the win to be assured of a No 1 ranking heading into the quarterfinals.

Group B equal-placed Serbia and Spain have winnable matches, but Spain will play bottom-ranked Czech Republic with the score being academic because of the tie-break rules, meaning Serbia should take out the group.

Winners of the groups gain direct entry to the quarterfinals while teams 2-3 in each group will play cross-overs.

Tuesday results:

Group A: Italy 9 Russia 9 (1-2, 2-4, 4-0, 2-3), Croatia 31 Uzbekistan 1 (11-0, 9-0, 5-0, 6-1). Progress points: Croatia 6, Russia 5, Italy 3, Argentina 2, Uzbekistan 0.

Group B: Spain 15 Slovakia 5 (4-2, 4-2, 4-1, 3-0). Progress points: Serbia 5, Spain 5, USA 4, Slovakia 2, Czech Republic 0.

Group C: Brazil 9 Egypt 8 (2-3, 2-4, 1-1, 4-0), Hungary 12 Germany 5 (3-2, 2-1, 5-0, 2-2). Progress points: Hungary 4, Germany 4, Brazil 2, Egypt 0.

Group D: Greece 8 Montenegro 9 (1-1, 3-3, 2-2, 2-3), Kazakhstan 8 South Africa 10 (0-1, 2-2, 4-6, 2-1). Progress points: Montenegro 4, Greece 4, South Africa 2, Kazakhstan 0.

Wednesday final group-match schedule:
09:00 Group A Russia v Croatia
10:30 Group A Argentina v Italy
12:00 Group B Slovakia v Serbia
13:30 Group B Czech Republic v Spain
15:00 Group C Egypt v Hungary
16:30 Group D Montenegro v Kazakhstan