Hungary in world waterpolo final

The Hungarian men's national waterpolo team defeated Olympic champions Croatia 11-10 in the semifinal to face Montenegro in the world championship final Saturday night at the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

The Croatians won the first quarter 3-2 but Hungary came back and were 6-5 up at half time. The third quarter began with a fabulous save by the Hungarian keeper Viktor Nagy who thwarted a Croatian penalty shot.

Despite receiving much fewer extra-man advantages than their opponents (the difference was nine in this respect in favor of the Croats), Hungary played well and were 9-7 up before the last quarter.

In the last 8 minutes, the Hungarians made it 10-7 while Viktor Nagy saved another penalty. The end was again filled with suspense as the Croats closed the gap to 10-9 but were able to equalize eventually.

Saturday night, Hungary will have the chance to win the world title after ten years as they take on last year's European runners-up Momtenegro that beat Italy in the other semifinal 10-8.

Hungary already has a gold medal at this world aquatics championships as this Monday, Katinka Hosszú won the women's 200-meter individual medley title, with another Hungarian, Zsuzsanna Jakabos finishing 6th in the same event.