World Championships: U.S. Men Handle Canada, Montenegro Tips Greece as Men’s Water Polo Opens
The U.S. men handled Canada, 18-9, and Montenegro pulled out a 10-9 win over Greece on the first day of men’s water polo at the 2025 World Championships.
The U.S., which won bronze at the Paris Olympics in 2024, never trailed, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after one quarter. Adrian Weinberg was excellent in goal with 11 saves. Max Irving led the offense with four goals on five shots plus an assist. Hannes Daube had three goals and two assists, and Nicolas Saveljic added three goals.
Canada got a hat trick from Ali Oussadou.
In the penultimate game of the day at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, three goals and two assists from Djuro Radovic and a hat trick from Filip Gardasevic led Montenegro past Greece. Petar Tesanovic made seven saves.
Nikolaos Gkillas led Greece with a hat trick. Panagiotis Tzortzatos made 11 saves in goal.
Serbia, the reigning Olympic champion, opened the competition with a comprehensive 27-3 decision over South Africa. Dusan Mandic shot 6-for-7 from the field. Nikola Murisic scored five times, Nikola Jaksic added four goals and Milos Cuk paired three goals with four assists.
Croatia, the world champion in Doha in 2024 and silver medalist in Paris, began its quest for more hardware with a 25-6 thumping of China. Luka Bukic powered the onslaught with six goals on seven shots. Marko Zuvela scored four goals, and Konstantin Kharkov contributed three goals and five assists.
Italy, the silver medalist in Doha, trailed after the first quarter against Romania but turned it on for a 17-5 rout. Francisco Condemi scored four times, Lorenzo Bruni three and Gianmarco Nicosia stopped eight shots.
The other match in the U.S.’s Group C went to Brazil, 19-8 over Singapore. Gustavo Coutinho, Marcos Paulo Pedroso and Gustavo Guimaraes scored three times apiece.
Spain topped Japan, 22-16, in the day’s most offensive affair, which included 13 fourth-quarter goals. Alvaro Granados bombed home five goals to go with three assists, and Bernat Sanahuja and Unai Biel buried four goals each. Yusuke Inaba led Japan with five goals, and Taiyo Watanabe added four goals and three assists.
Hungary opened with an 18-6 win over Australia behind nine saves from Kristof Csoma. Marton Vamos scored three goals, and Krisztian Manhercz and Adam Nagy each had a goal and four assists as the Hungarians dished 15 helpers.
