Bracket Play Keeps Rolling at Men’s Jr. World Water Polo Championships

LOS ALAMITOS, California, August 25. LAST night, the Men's Junior World Water Polo Championship moved on with even more bracket play competition in Los Alamitos, Calif.

In the winner's bracket, Croatia doubled up Spain, 9-5, with a supremely balanced offense as no one player scored more than two goals.

Serbia, meanwhile, unleashed a beating on Germany, 21-7 – a score usually seen in United States' football. Stefan Mitrovic tickled the twine five times, while Ivan Rackov tallied four goals for Serbia.

In an exciting match, Hungary outlasted Australia, 15-12, by claiming the penalty shootout round 4-1. Even two overtimes could not decide the outcome, so Hungary had the chance to outclass Australia in head-to-head shots. Both Denes Varga and Balazs Harai notched five goals for Hungary, while Nicholas O'Halloran led Australia with four goals.

The partisan crowd was not enough to help the United States move into title contention as Italy claimed an 8-7 triumph over the U.S.

"I'm very proud of my guys and the game they put on, there are no regrets on how hard we worked and how far we've come, sometimes breaks don't go your way, sometimes you start too slow and you can't finish strong enough," said head coach Doug Peabody. "Italy won, they were the better team tonight, I'm disappointed because I wanted to win a championship."

In the loser's bracket matches for 1-16, Slovakia opened the day by edging Canada 10-9. Andreo Janicek shouldered the load for Slovakia with four goals, while Lukas Kosik also netted a hat trick with three goals. Devon Diggle was not enough for Canada, even though he connected five times.

In a high scoring affair, France defeated Egypt, 16-12. Michael Bodegas paced a balanced attack for the French with four goals, while teammates Harrison Chave and Manuel Laversanne tallied hat tricks. Ahmed Moharram led Egypt with five goals, while teammate Ahmed Hazem collected three goals for a hat trick.

Greece thumped Argentina, 16-4, after bouncing back from a brutal overtime loss to Croatia. Greece took out its frustration on Argentina as Greece moves on to work for ninth-place overall.

Japan squeaked by Brazil, 9-8, with a come-from-behind victory. Down 7-6 in the fourth stanza, Japan outscored Brazil 3-1 in the final frame to advance.

In the 17-24 classification matches, Singapore downed Puerto Rico, 7-4, while Mexico clipped Iran, 8-7. Meanwhile, Jamaica beat Kuwait, 8-6, while New Zealand edged Columbia, 8-7, in the final match in the 17-24 category.

Results
For Places 1-16:
Winner's Bracket:
Match 81: Spain 5 vs. Croatia 9
Match 82: Italy 8 vs. United States 7
Match 83: Serbia 21 vs. Germany 7
Match 84: Australia 12 vs. Hungary 15 (penalty shootout)

Loser's Bracket:
Match 77: Argentina 4 vs. Greece 16
Match 78: Brazil 8 vs. Japan 9
Match 79: Canada 9 vs. Slovakia 10
Match 80: France 16 vs. Egypt 12

For Places 17-24:
Match 73: Singapore 7 vs. Puerto Rico 4
Match 74: Mexico 8 vs. Iran 7
Match 75: Kuwait 6 vs. Jamaica 8
Match 76: Columbia 7 vs. New Zealand 8

Saturday's Schedule
Match 85: Puerto Rico vs. Kuwait
Match 86: Singapore vs. Jamaica
Match 87: Iran vs. Columbia
Match 88: Mexico vs. New Zealand
Match 89: Argentina vs. Brazil
Match 90: Canada vs. Egypt
Match 91: Greece vs. Japan
Match 92: Slovakia vs. France
Match 93: Spain vs. United States
Match 94: Germany vs. Australia
Match 95: Croatia vs. Italy
Match 96: Serbia vs. Hungary

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