In the group B semifinal today in New York:Croatia defeating Russia 12-7
Canadian Water Polo
Canada loses 14-8 to Spain in World League menâEUR(TM)s water polo semifinal tournament
July 6, 2005
TORONTO.- A rebuilding Canadian menâEUR(TM)s team got caught in an scoring festival with Spain on Wednesday and lost 14-8 in the opening game of the A group World League menâEUR(TM)s water polo semifinal tournament being held this week at the University of Toronto.
The Canadians who were 0-6 in the round robin portion of the tournament which took place last month in Europe were led by Kevin Mitchell of Vancouver with three goals, Thomas Marks of Vancouver with two while Kevin Graham of Regina, Noah Miller of Regina and Jean Sayegh of Montreal notched one apiece. The score was 9-4 Spain at the half.
âEURoeThis was by far our worst game weâEUR(TM)ve played so far in the World League,âEUR? said CanadaâEUR(TM)s head coach Dragan Jovanovich of Calgary. âEURoeThe mistakes we made tonight were incredible. This was the first time we were playing at home and we looked paralysed out there. The only positive is we only lost by six goals. We hadnâEUR(TM)t played in 10 days and I think we lost our rhythm. We need to get back to our defensive ethic and ball control.âEUR?
Guillermo Molina led Spain with four goals while Felipe Perrone, Kiko Perrone, Jose Rodriguez and Xavi Valles added two each with singles to R. Diaz and Ivan Perez.
In WednesdayâEUR(TM)s other game here Greece defeated Serbia and Montenegro, the Olympic silver medallists 8-7. Greece led 5-4 at the half. It was Serbia and MontenegroâEUR(TM)s first lost of the tournament. Scoring for Greece were Antonis Vlontakis, Stefanos Santa and G Nioskas with two goals each and Argyrios Theodoropoulos and Theodoros Chatzitheodorou with one each.
Aleksandar Sapic, the leagueâEUR(TM)s top scorer, scored four times for Serbia Montenegro with singles to Danilo Ikodinovic, Vladimir Vujasinovic and B. Zlokovic.
On Thursday, Canada has the bye with Serbia Montenegro facing Germany at 7 p.m. and Spain vs Greece at 8:30 p.m. CanadaâEUR(TM)s next game is Friday against Serbia Montenegro, the Olympic silver medallists in Athens.
The group B semifinal also started today in New York with Croatia defeating Russia 12-7 and Italy edging the U.S., 6-4. The top-three teams from the two groups advance to the World League final next month in Belgrade. More than $430,000 (U.S.) is up for cash prizes in the tournament.
More information at: www.waterpolo.ca and www.fina.org
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