The Serbian men’s water polo team was defeated by the Hungarian national team 17:13 (2:2, 6:1, 5:5, 4:5) in the second round match of the OTP Cup in Budapest.
The most efficient player in the Serbian national team was Vasilije Martinović with six goals. Novaković and Kojić scored twice each, and Stanojević, Kovačević and Jauković scored once each.
Serbia is participating in the OTP Cup as part of preparations for participation in the Mediterranean Games (Taranto, Italy, 21.08 – 03.09.2026), while Hungary is preparing to participate in the World Cup final tournament, which will be played at the end of the month in Australia.
Coach Vladimir Vujasinović’s team opened the match well and took a 2:0 lead with goals from Martinović and Kojić. At the end of the first period, the Hungarians took the lead and equalized with goals from Manhrec and Zalanki.
Hungary gained a huge advantage in the second quarter. The Hungarian water polo players exploded and, taking advantage of numerous mistakes by our national team players, ran 6:1 to take an 8:3 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Serbs played better both in attack and defense, and Vasilije Martinović scored 4 consecutive goals. However, at times our team lost concentration, which the experienced Hungarians knew how to take advantage of. In this period, both teams scored 5 goals, so at the beginning of the last period the hosts had +5.
In the final period, Vladimir Vujasinović’s team managed to reduce Hungary’s advantage.
In the previous match of the second round, the Netherlands defeated Georgia 15:14. Hungary leads the table with 6 points, Serbia and the Netherlands have 3 points each, while Georgia has no points.
The final round is scheduled for Sunday: Serbia – Netherlands (09:15), Hungary – Georgia (10:45).
Hungary – Serbia 17:13 (2:2, 6:1, 5:5, 4:5)
HUNGARY: Csoma, Burian 1, Manherz 4, Eckler 1, Varga 2, Dala, Fekete, Zalanky 3, Nemeth, Vigvari 3, Jansik 1, Szalai 1, Gyapjas, Sepfalvi 1.
SERBIA: Glušac, Pljevančić, Stanojevic 1, Novakovic 2, Kojić 2, Milojevic, Trtović, Gavrilović, Kovačević 1, Martinović 6, Krstic, Božović, Virijevic, Jauković 1.
