The Serbian national water polo team defeated the Netherlands selection in the Greek city of Alexandroupoli with a score of 15:11 (5:4, 2:2, 4:4, 4:1) in the first match of the qualifying tournament for placement in the World Cup final tournament.
Serbia was led to its first victory in Group A by Vasilije Martinovic with five goals and Nikola Jaksic with four goals scored, while Nikola Lukic scored two. Luka Pljevancic, Strahinja Krstic, Petar Jaksic, and Marko Dimitrijevic also entered the scorers’ list.
Among the Dutch, Sam van den Burg was the most effective with three goals scored.
Serbia will play its second match in Group A on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against Greece, while a duel with Hungary awaits them on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
Group B includes Italy, Croatia, Spain, and the USA.
After the matches in the qualifying part in two groups, the competition continues again in two groups. The first will consist of the two top-placed national teams from each, and the second of the remaining teams from the groups. Points are not carried over.
The five most successful teams will compete in the final tournament in Sydney. In other words, the participants of the first group are guaranteed travelers to Sydney, while from the second group, only the winner will be able to participate in the final competition.
The sixth participant is the host Australia, while the remaining two will arrive from Division 2, whose competition will be held in Malta with the participation of 23 teams.
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Source: Nova.rs, Photo: Slobodan Sandić / Vaterpolo savez Srbije