Dubai: Defending champions Serbia and last year’s losing finalists Hungary both topped their respective groups with victories in their third and final group contests of the Fina Water Polo World League Super Final at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Wednesday.
Record seven-time winners Serbia beat Brazil 12-4 after having already overturned China 21-9 and Montenegro 14-5 earlier in the week. Meanwhile, record nine-time Olympic champions Hungary beat the USA 16-9 following earlier wins over Australia 11-5 and Canada 10-3.
Serbia coach Dejan Savic said he was happy to cement top spot in Group A, meaning his team now play the fourth side from Group B in Thursday’s quarter-final.
“The group stages are over and I’m happy to have topped our group, but from tomorrow [Thursday] we will start the quarter-finals,” he said. “I don’t know who we will play but we must concentrate because my team is tired after its ongoing preparations for next month’s European Championships and this could be a problem.
“Before this tournament I thought Hungary would be the favourites, but yesterday we recorded a big win over Montenegro and that could be shock therapy for them. Maybe they will come back strongly.”
Hungary coach Tibor Benedek was also pleased to notch top seeding in Group B, which ensured his side meet the bottom team from Group A on Thursday.
“I’m happy because we played three tough games with very strong and physical opposition,” he said. “But the real test starts tomorrow [Thursday] with elimination, and that will be another story.
“I said after the first game, I want to play better and better, game by game. And that’s the most important thing, because in the end we have to be prepared enough to face Serbia or Montenegro.”
A three game round-robin format decides the seedings for Thursday’s quarter-finals, where the first, second, third and fourth-ranked teams from Group A play the respective fourth, third, second and first-place sides from Group B.
The six-day tournament not only gives European teams a chance to prepare for next month’s European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from July 14 to 27, but the two finalists will also qualify for next year’s World Championships in Kazan, Russia. The champions will also take home a cheque for $100,000 (Dh367,233).
