Water Polo 2016 Rio Review

Men’s Event

Serbia and Croatia entered the tournament as number one seeds, but neither won their group. Group A was incredibly tight, with three points separating five teams. On top were Hungary, whilst Brazil shocked seeded teams to go through the group stage, even defeating Serbia. Group B saw sixth seed Spain spring a huge surprise in taking the top spot. Croatia finished second in the group, ahead of Italy and Montenegro. In the quarter-finals, Montenegro knocked out Hungary in an epic, while Brazil and Spain saw their fairytale runs end. The tournament progressed to the semi-finals, where Serbia got a tight win over Italy, while Croatia beat Montenegro. Led by great shot saver Gojko Pijetlovic and MVP Filip Filipovic, Serbia got the win over Croatia in the final.

🥇Serbia 🇷🇸

🥈Croatia 🇭🇷

🥉Italy 🇮🇹

Women’s Event

The women’s event only had eight teams, meaning all qualified from the group stages. It was the two-second seeds in Italy and the United States who won their groups. The two number one seeds, Australia and Hungary, ended up clashing in the quarter-finals. Hungary overcame Australia in a tense penalty shootout. The United and Italy kept their form up with comfortable wins. The semi-finals saw them confirm form, with Italy defeating Russia and the United States sealing a win over Hungary. The United States piled the goals up in the final, beating Italy 12-5 to win a historic gold. The bronze medal saw a draw and a lengthy penalty shootout, in which Russia overcome Hungary.

🥇United States of America 🇺🇸

🥈Italy 🇮🇹

🥉Russia 🇷🇺