FINA World Championships, Water Polo: Men’s Qualifying Continues; Cosmin Alexandru Radu Tallies Eight Goals For Romania

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SHANGHAI, China, July 22. THE men's water polo qualifying matches continued through the sixth day of water polo action combined at the FINA World Championships held in Shanghai.

Canada opened up the third day of men's qualifying with a 13-9 victory over Brazil. Devon Diggle had a monster game for Canada with a five-for-five effort. Nicolas Constantin Bicari also tallied a hat trick for the Canadians. Gustavo Guimaraes led the Brazilians with a hat trick of his own.

Defending bronze medalist Croatia dominated Japan, 18-7, in the second match. Maro Jokovic led a balanced scoring attack for Croatia with three goals. Six other Croatians scored two goals, while three more scored one as well. Koji Takei, Akira Yanase and Yusuke Shimzu all connected on two goals for Japan.

The United States obliterated South Africa, 20-3. Tony Azevedo went five-for-six from the field to lead the Stars and Stripes, while Tim Hutten also collected a hat trick. Three different players accounted for South Africa's goals.

"We've won a crucial game," Hutten said. "We'll play against Canada next and it is tough team, not easy to play."

After the USA-RSA drubbing, fans had some exciting in the next match with Italy nipping Germany, 7-6, in the final minute. Matteo Aicardi paced Italy with a hat trick, while Julian Real and Marc Torsten Politze turned in two goals each for Germany.

"I've been waiting for such matches, tough and quick," Italian head coach Alessandro Campagna said. "Germany is a strong team, we all respect them. Though we won in the last minute, it doesn't mean (they're not strong)."

Hungary tripped up defending silver medalist Spain, 12-11, in the fifth match of the day. Norbert Madaras and Balazs Harai each tallied a hat trick to lead Hungary, while Ivan Ernesto Perez Vargas connected for three goals as well for Spain.

Montenegro crushed Kazakhstan, 16-5, in the sixth match. Aleksandar Radovic went four-for-seven from the field to lead Montenegro, while Evgeniy Zhilyayev collected a hat trick for Kazakhstan.

Defending gold medalist Serbia downed Australia, 12-9. Filip Filipovic posted a strong outing with five goals for Serbia, while Richard Campbell, Robert Maitland and William Miller each connected for two goals for the Aussies.

Romania upset the hometown crowd with a 14-10 defeat of China to close the day. Cosmin Alexandru Radu was unstoppable with an amazing eight goals in the contest for Romania. Alexandru Barabas Matei Guiman chipped in three goals for Romania as well. Pan Ning paced China with a hat trick.

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