Sports News | Dedovic Helps Serbia Beat the US 10-6 in Men''s Water Polo Semi-finals at Paris Olympics
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Nikola Dedovic scored four times and Serbia beat the US 10-6 on Friday in the semi-finals of the men's water polo tournament at the Paris Olympics, ending the Americans' surprising run.
Nanterre (France), Aug 9 (AP) Nikola Dedovic scored four times and Serbia beat the US 10-6 on Friday in the semi-finals of the men's water polo tournament at the Paris Olympics, ending the Americans' surprising run.
Serbia is trying to become the third men's team to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. Just like in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, it has moved to another level after a shaky start in group play.
Dusan Mandic was shut out by the US after he entered with a tournament-best 25 goals. But, Serbia captain Nikola Jaksic scored three times, and Radoslav Filipovic made 10 saves.
Serbia advanced to the semis with a 12-11 victory over Greece on Wednesday on Jaksic's perfect skip shot from deep with three seconds left.
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Next up is the winner of the second semi-final between Hungary and Croatia. The gold-medal match is on Sunday at Paris La Defense Arena.
It was the first semi-final appearance for the United States since it won silver in 2008. It had won three straight games, including a dramatic 12-11 victory over Australia in a penalty shootout on Wednesday.
The US played without Johnny Hooper after the attacker was ejected in the first quarter of the quarter-final because of a brutality foul.
Hooper's two-game suspension was reduced to one after an American appeal, and he is expected to play in the bronze-medal match on Sunday.
Marko Vavic scored two goals for the US in its semi-final loss. Captain Ben Hallock, Luca Cupido, Alex Bowen and Ryder Dodd also scored.
“We couldn't finish. That's what it came down to," US centre Alex Obert said. “We couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. We're just a little bit short with it.”
Hannes Daube was shut out, missing each of his five shots. The 24-year-old attacker leads the US with 17 goals in a breakout performance in his second Olympics. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)