FINA World League Super Finals - Update
The Super Finals of FINA's World League got off to a flying start as hosts Serbia completely destroyed South Africa in one of the most ruthless exhibition of Water Polo the world has ever witnessed. The score at the end of the game was 22-0 and even then it seemed to flatter the South Africans, who were no match for the superior skill and talent of the Serbs.
In Group A, Montenegro made light work of China, beating them 16-4 in a very routine victory. Montenegro are the defending champions and have gotten off to a very impressive start. In the other match from the group, the United States defeated Spain 7-3 to put themselves in a good position in the group. Montenegro are overwhelming favourites to win the group but the likes of United States and Spain will be hoping to cause an upset or two to book their place in the semi finals.
The Super Finals are being played in Nis, Serbia from July 13-18 and the hosts will be backing themselves after their performance against the South Africans to set up a mouth watering tie against Montenegro in the final. The two teams used to be one, of course, jointly participating and winning the tournament twice as Serbia and Montenegro but since the split of the two countries, the teams have also been separated, something which has taken the rivalry to a completely different level.
In the other game played from Group A, Australia caused an upset as they beat Croatia 10-7, which means they now have a very good chance of making it through to the semi finals. Australia are one of the emerging nations in Water Polo but Croatia really would have expected to do much better in the game than they did. In last year's edition of the FINA Water Polo World League, Croatia managed to reach the final, only to be defeated by the winners, Montenegro.
The Croatian team in this tournament though seems to have changed a lot more than would be expected in the space of a year. Last year they managed to defeat one of the favourites, Serbia in the semi finals, to set up the final with Montenegro and if they wish to progress, they have no other option but to repeat the feat once again because from South Africa's embarrassing performance it is clear that they will lose to all the teams in this group.
If that happens, it will mean that the two places in the semi finals will have to be decided between Serbia, Australia and Croatia. Since Croatia have already lost to Australia, they can only hope to seal their progress without doubt if they beat Serbia and South Africa, which seems like a daunting task.
The situation in the other group seems much simpler as Montenegro and the United States appear certain to make it out unscathed. The game between the two teams will be the one fans will be looking out for most since it will decide which side will have to play Serbia in order to progress to the finals.
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