Water polo at its best – again, in Budapest, again in the magnificent Duna Arena this time in the men's World League Super Final. The venue is just as majestic in its legacy mood as it was a year ago at the FINA World Championships (capacity halved, otherwise it's still the palace of aquatics). Perhaps the best site to show a brand new face of water polo as the environment created for this Super Final is something never seen at any previous meets. Six giant screens, plus three huge led perimeters around the pool showing updates, fun images, the scorers' portraits plus their personal stats, on-site coverage with 15 cameras and instant replays on all actions, post-game awarding show for the MVP of the respective matches while both teams line up at the stage - fans' entertainment guaranteed. And the teams were ready to contribute as there were plenty to show right on the opening day.
Thanks to the draw it was a Europe v Rest of the World test on Day 1 and based on the past results four wins for the Old Continent were very much in the cards. Three victories arrived as expected, world champion Croatia earned an easy win over Kazakhstan, Olympic 4th Montenegro overcame Japan and World Championships runner-up Hungary delighted the home crowd with a spectacular win over Australia. But the US boys were up to the task against Spain and with a great run in the middle two periods they took control and pulled off a surprising win.
In Game 1, Croatia opened its campaign with an easy win over Kazakhstan. The world champions did a clean job, building a safe gap by halftime, adding a demolishing 5-0 rush in the last period.
The smartest goal from Loren Fatovic (white cap), his shot caught the goalie by surprise - Credit: LOC / Jozsef Szaka
Montenegro followed their fellows, their path was something similar, Japan had a better spell in the second period but in the third the Montenegrins decided the outcome.
The next match brought the first real thrills of the tourney as the encounter between the US and Spain was balanced throughout and ended in a bit surprising win of the Americans. A drought lasting 12:41 minutes cost the game for Spain, during that phase the Americans went 6-4 up from 2-4 and never looked back.
Hungarian captain Viktor Nagy showed his best once again, posting a 69% saving percentage (9 stops on 13 attempts) in three periods
The newly shaped Hungarian team – lining up without an Olympic champion player at a major FINA event for the first time since 2008 – entertained the home crowd with a brilliant display of water polo in the second half. The Aussies held them on four goals in the first and caused them some headaches especially in the second period but the hosts hit back hard in the third and blew their rivals away while rushing from 2-3 to 2-8.
You can follow all the action from Budapest as FINA offers live coverage on the FINA TV while you can follow the games through a newly implemented live-score system. By clicking on the games listed here you can find detailed statistics including play-by-play description, and our match reports and picture gallery can be found in the usual space below.
Game 1, 15.15 – Group B: Croatia v Kazakhstan 15-5
Game 2, 16.45 – Group A: Montenegro v Japan 14-8