2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
- When: Water Polo: Saturday, July 24 – Saturday, August 7, 2021
- Men’s Water Polo: Sunday, July, 25 – Sunday, August 8, 2021
- Where: Tatsumi International Swimming Centre / Tokyo, Japan
- Full aquatics schedule
- What You Need to Know
- Stream on NBC Olympics
- Results
Greece Shuts Down South Africa
The South African team did not stand a chance against Greece. By the end of the first quarter, the Greeks were up by 6 goals. They continued to extend their lead throughout the match until they defeated South Africa 28-5. The 23-point margin is the largest so far in the men’s tournament. South African ended the match with a total of 22 shots, compared to Greece’s 46.
Hungary defeated the US 11-8. Tamas Mezei scored the first goal of the match and the Hungarians held onto their lead through the end. The goalkeepers were both kept on their toes the entire game. Alex Wolf of USA saved 10/21 of the opposing team’s shots, while Viktor Nagy blocked 8 of 16 of the US’s attempts. Ben Hallack and Alex Bowen were the US’s top scorers with 2 goals each, and Krisztian Manhercz scored 3 goals for the winners.
Italy beat Olympic host Japan 16-8 in its third win of their group stages. Yusuke Inaba led the Japanese effort, finding the back of the net on 3 of his shots. Petro Figlioli and Michael Alexandre Bodegas scored 3 goals each for the Italians. Japan has yet to win a game in the tournament, which could change when they face South Africa on Monday.
Spain Remains Undefeated
Spain is the only team in the tournament to have won all of its games. They took down Australia in their most recent match, winning 16-5. Spanish goalkeeper Daniel Lopez Pinedo had a successful match, blocking 14/19 shots. Alvaro Granados Ortega scored 4 goals and is now the leading scorer of both groups. Aaron Younger was Australia’s top scorer, with two goals. Goalie Anthony Hrysanthos struggled to get his hand on the ball, stopping 27% of Spain’s attempts.
Kazahkstan lost its fourth game, falling to Montenegro 12-19. Montenegro chose to use two goalkeepers in the match while Kazahkstan stuck with its starting goalie for the entire match. In 2016, Montenegro lost in the bronze medal game against Italy. They are third in their bracket and will likely move out of the group stage. Kazahkstan is last in Group ‘B’ along with Australia.
The 2016 finalists faced off in a close match. Silver medalists Serbia fought hard to beat defending champions Serbia 14-12. Maro Jokovic and Paulo Obradovic each scored four times, which accounts for more than half of Croatia’s goals. Serbian goalie Gojko Pijetlovic was only able to block 9 of 23 shots. Although they lost, Serbia had more shots on goal. They had 27 attempts, but Marko Bijac blocked enough so that his team could win.
GROUP A STANDINGS:
GROUP B STANDINGS:
With a few games remained, the current standings would indicate that Japan and South Africa face elimination from Group ‘A’ and Australia and Kazakhstan won’t move forward from Group ‘B’. Serbia, who won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics also sits near the bottom of their group.
LEADING GOAL SCORERS:
- Alvaro Granados Ortega (ESP) – 13
- Maro Jokovic (CRO) – 12
- Alex Bowen (USA) / Luka Bukic (CRO) / Francesco di Fulvio (ITA) / Yusuke Inaba (JPN) – 11
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- Krisztian Manhercz (HUN) – 10
LEADING GOALKEEPERS (% BLOCKED):
- Gianmarco Nicosia (ITA) – 100%
- Unai Aguirre (ESP) – 81%
- Konstantinos Galanidis (GRE) – 64%
- Alex Wolf (USA) – 62%
- Emmanouil Zerdevas (GRE) – 61%
