Montenegro wins Nis tournament on penalties

Montenegro

Montenegro claimed victory at the strong 8-nation tournament in Nis, Serbia on Saturday beating Greece in the final for the 2nd time in a week, this time on penalties 12-10. The game was levelled 8-8 after regulation but the Montenegrins proved to have the better of the Greek in the following shootout. Aleksandar Ivovic, Vjekoslav Paskovic, Darko Brguljan and Mladjan Janovic all hit their penalty shot attempts while Greece missed twice including one save by Montenegrin goalkeeper Zdravko Radic. The Montenegrins earlier beat Greece 9-7 during a group play meeting on Thursday. Hosts Serbia took third place holding off Spain overcoming a 4-1 deficit at half-time to win 9-10. 5th place went to Romania who won another close match-up topping Germany 8-9. Finally Russia finished in 7th place in the early morning on Saturday beating China 15-8 behind 4 goals from Konstantin Stepanyuk.

All teams can now finalise their preparation for the 2015 World Championships in Kazan as the final selections will be announced and most teams will travel to the Tatarstan capital around Wednesday or Thursday. The water polo tournament kicks off Sunday with a women's day, followed by the opening day for the men on Monday. 

2015 World Championships preparation tournament

Nis, Serbia

Results

Saturday, 18 July

Russia vs. China 15-8 (2-1, 4-1, 5-3, 4-3) - 7th/8th place

Russia scorers: Stepanyuk 4, Ashaev 2, Antipov 2, Lisunov 2, Kholod 2, Odintsov, Bychkou, Nagaev.

China scorers: Lun Li 3, Tan 2, Hu 2, J. Cheng.

Germany vs. Romania 8-9 (0-3, 3-1, 0-2, 5-3) - 5th/6th place

Germany scorers: Nossek 2, Schueler 2, Bukowski, Jüngling, Miers, Schlotterbeck.

Romania scorers: Negrean 2, Gheorghe 2, Radu, Cretu, Georgescu, Ghiban, Popovicu.

Spain vs. Serbia 9-10 (1-0, 3-1, 3-5, 2-4) - 3rd/4th place

Spain scorers: Español 3, Garcia 2, Mora, Echenique, Minguell, Mallarach.

Serbia scorers: Mandic 2, Cuk 2, Nikic 2, S. Mitrovic 2, Filipovic, Subotic.

Montenegro vs. Greece 12-10 (3-2, 2-4, 2-0, 1-2; penalties: 4-2) 1st/2nd place

Montenegro scorers: Da. Brguljan 2, Jokic 2, Dr. Brguljan, Janovic, Ukropina, Murisic.

Greece scorers: Fountoulis 3, Vlachopoulos 2, Pontikeas, Afroudakis, Mourikis.