Belgrade, Serbia, August 7.— Greece held off United States of America 7-6 in a feature match of day-three action from the FINA Junior Men’s Water Polo World Championships at the Sports Centre Milan Gale Muskatirovic here today.
USA performed amazingly against Russia on Sunday night and was expected to give Greece a big nudge, which it did. However, Greece led 3-1, 4-2 and 6-3 at the breaks and defied a Johnathan Hooper barrage in the final quarter for a third straight win and probable group victory. Hooper scored two of his three in the final quarter while Greece's hero was Charalampos Troulos who scored all three opening-quarter goals.
In Group C, Argentina opened the day's proceedings with a 9-5 victory over New Zealand. Both teams squandered opportunities with New Zealand suffering under Argentina's withering extra-man attack. Serbia dumped China 27-4 after leading 13-3 at halftime. Leading the waterfall of goals was Ivan Gvozdanovic with five goals.
In Group D, Canada dispensed with South Africa 15-7 after a fairly even first half. The experience of Budapest 2017 players Reul D'Souza and Aria Soleimanipak — three goals each — proved critical to Canada's success. Italy came up with a first win from two outings, downing Egypt 18-2 with Edoardo Decampiano netting four goals.
In Group A, Iran regained the lead to defeat Puerto Rico 8-7 in a match where the scores were level at every number until seven. Mehdi Yazdankhan top-scored with five goals for Iran.
Group B closed the night's proceedings and Croatia gained a third consecutive win with a 14-10 result against Japan. The match was tied at halftime, Croatia gained a two-goal advantage in the third and again in the fourth with Rino Buric netting five goals against the much smaller, but speedier, Japanese. Spain went second in the group in downing Netherlands 13-5 with star Spanish centre forward Roger Tahull being sent on a red card, along with Netherlands' Mika Smelt.
Progress points:
Group A: Greece 6, USA 2, Russia 2, Iran 2, Puerto Rico 0.
Group B: Croatia 6, Spain 4, Montenegro 2, Japan 0, Netherlands 0.
Group C: Serbia 4, Australia 4, China 2, Argentina 2, New Zealand 0.
Group D: Hungary 4, Canada 4, Italy 2, Egypt 2, South Africa 0.
Match schedule:
Match 18. 09:00, Group C, ARGENTINA 9 NEW ZEALAND 5
Match 19, 10:20, Group D, CANADA 15 SOUTH AFRICA 7
Match 20, 11:40, Group D, EGYPT 2 ITALY 18
Match 21. 13:00, Group A, PUERTO RICO 7 IRAN 8
Match 22, 16:40, Group A, GREECE 7 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 6
Match 17. 18:00, Group C, SERBIA 27 CHINA 4
Match 23. 19:20, Group B, JAPAN 10 CROATIA 14
Match 24. 20:40, Group B, SPAIN 13 NETHERLANDS 5