First Round of Bracket Play Concludes At Men’s Junior Water Polo Championships

LOS ALAMITOS, California, August 24. THE first round of bracket play came to a close at the Men's Junior Water Polo Championships held in Los Alamitos, Calif., yesterday.

In the round of 16, Italy started off the day with a 17-1 pounding of Brazil as Francesco Lo Cascio tickled the twine four times and Marco Ferrone notched a hat trick with three goals.

In the next match, Serbia ran over Canada, 16-2, with a balanced attack including four players recording hat tricks. Miroslav Randic hit the back of the net four times, while Luka Saponic, Dusan Markovic and Stefan Mitrovic each tallied three goals for Serbia.

Germany pulled off an upset based on bracket seeds with a 13-7 defeat of Slovakia. Heading into the match, Slovakia had four wins compared to Germany's three. Germany, however, opened the match 3-0 and never looked back.

Spain overpowered Argentina, 12-3, in another bracket play match. The win pushed Spain to six wins with no losses as it pulled away with six unanswered goals in the final frame.

Australia edged France, 10-7, with Stephen Cody posting a hat trick with three goals including the final tally of the match.

In one of the best matches of the entire tournament, Croatia had to work overtime to beat Greece, 9-7. With the match tied 7-7 going into extra periods, Croatia pulled away with a pair of goals, one in the first and second overtimes, to salt the game away.

The United States overcame a scrappy team from Japan, 11-8, to advance in the bracket. JW Krumpholz led all scorers with four goals for the U.S.

Hungary continued its prolific goal scoring during the meet with a 20-2 whitewashing of Egypt. Botand Szabo connected four times, while Attila Kincses and Balazs Harai each tallied hat tricks with three goals apiece for Hungary.

Four matches were also played in the 17-24 classification rounds. Mexico doubled up Singapore, 15-7, while Iran clocked Puerto Rico, 11-3. Columbia added a second win of the meet with a 10-6 triumph over Kuwait. New Zealand completed the classification matches for the day with a 14-3 conquest of Jamaica.

Results From First Day of Bracket Play
For Places 1-16:
Match 65: Spain 12 vs. Argentina 3
Match 66: Croatia 9 vs. Greece 7 OT
Match 67: Italy 17 vs. Brazil 1
Match 68: Japan 8 vs. USA 11
Match 69: Serbia 16 vs. Canada 2
Match 70: Slovakia 7 vs. Germany 13
Match 71: Australia 10 vs. France 7
Match 72: Egypt 2 vs. Hungary 20

For Places 17-24:
Match 61: Mexico 15 vs. Singapore 7
Match 62: Iran 11 vs. Puerto Rico 3
Match 63: Columbia 10 vs. Kuwait 6
Match 64: New Zealand 14 vs. Jamaica 3

Schedule for Second Day of Bracket Play
For Places 1-16:
Winner's Bracket:
Match 81: Spain vs. Croatia
Match 82: Italy vs. United States
Match 83: Serbia vs. Germany
Match 84: Australia vs. Hungary

Loser's Bracket:
Match 77: Argentina vs. Greece
Match 78: Brazil vs. Japan
Match 79: Canada vs. Slovakia
Match 80: France vs. Egypt

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

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use