Eight matches will be played at the OCBC Aquatic Centre for the men’s preliminary round.
Preliminary Round Group Match Reports
Match 13, Group B, AUSTRALIA 7 SPAIN 10 (0-4, 2-5, 1-0, 3-1)
World Cup and European champion Spain is the team to beat in Singapore and the Aussie Sharks were up against it, especially after losing the first quarter 4-0. However, and that’s a big however, Australia won the rest of the match 7-6 in a spectacular display of comeback water polo. And who was the star of the match? Aussie Sharks goalkeeper Nic Porter who denied Spain access to his cage a staggering 18 times. Many of those saves were spectacular.
Spain’s defensive structure proved too hard for the Aussie Sharks to get decent passes to the centre forward in that first quarters. Goalkeeper Nic Porter plays for CN Barceloneta in Spain and most of the Spanish team are his team-mates who were punishing him at every opportunity.
Alvaro Granados and Miguel de Toro led the way in the first period, followed by Bernat Sanahuja and Alberto Munarriz who completed the quartet of action goals. Granados speared in a penalty goal to start the second quarter before the Sharks made the scoresheet, Marcus Berehulak turning brilliantly at two metres, taunting the goalkeeper and scoring for 5-1. Marc Larumbe had his penalty stopped by Porter and Milos Maksimovic blasted in a shot from the top right for 5-2 at 4:57. Then Roger Tahull exploded into action with repeat goals at two metres, his appearance proving most authoritative. The Sharks called a timeout but two minutes later, Larumbe from the top and Sanahuja from deep right in the last eight seconds, gave Spain a splendid 9-2 advantage. That was where Spain’s dominance of the match ended.
Angus Lambie climbed to the stars to drag down a cross pass to the left post on the first Aussie attack but the news was not so good a minute later when Sam Nangle was red-carded for an alleged strike against his centre-defender, to the dismay of his parents who had just arrived in Singapore in time for the match. Spain took a timeout but the Aussie defence stepped up and denied Spain access for the rest of the quarter. Imagine the World Cup champion not being able to score a goal in eight minutes? In fact, Spain went scoreless for 12 minutes which must have cause palpitations for head coach David Martin. Australia was more aggressive and Maksimovic scored from the left, almost in sheer frustration after some rebounds. Porter closed up shop and by the end of the third quarter he already had 14 saves and mostly magnificent stops.
Matthew Byrnes backhanded from centre forward after drifting to his left at 6:44. Come 3:56 and Sergi Cabanas finally found the chink in the Aussie Sharks’ armour against an exhausted Porter who finished with a staggering 18 saves, with an extra-man goal from the top left. Australia gained a penalty and Luke Pavillard swam up after missing the first match overcoming a pre-tournament injury. He converted for 10-6. Soon after Australia was not awarded a penalty foul and Spanish captain and legend Felipe Perrone swam up and scored his first goal at this level since Paris 2024. However, as he swam up the pool, Aussie head coach Tim Hamill had thrown the green flag in the pool to lodge a challenge. It was allowed and Perrone’s goal was scratched and Pavillard drilled a second penalty goal for 10-7 behind. It was 2:19 and no more scoring occurred with Australia holding its head high after a poor start
Match Heroes
Porter was definitely the star of the match for Australia while team-mate Pavillard registered those two penalty goals. For victor Spain, Granados, Tahull and Sanahuja scored twice and goalkeeper Eduardo Lorrio made eight saves in three quarters.
Turning Point
The 5-0 start by Spain was when Australia started to make its mark.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain scored just three goals form 10 on extra but denied all five of Australia’s attempts. Spain missed one of two penalty attempts and the Sharks scored both. Spain stole the ball 10 times to one and shot 38 to 26. The latter statistic shows how good the Spanish defence was in the early stages. Also, with the steals as Australia tried to feed the centre forwards.
Bottom Line
It’s all been said. Spain goes through with two wins and Australia recovered from a bad loss on day one and now needs to displace nemesis Japan on Wednesday.
What They Said
Match 12, Group B, JAPAN 18 HUNGARY 23 (5-5, 3-5, 3-5, 7-8)
Hungary is always the biggest scalp to claim in world water polo and Japan is one of the trickiest teams to play. Put the two together and you have a wonderful fusion of, speed, power, history and ingenuity. Wrap them all up and see the explosion of skills and the goals will start coming. Hungary was stunned that it was tit for tat in the first quarter with the match tied at five. Hungary started the net breaches with the trade going to 3-3. Japan nudged ahead on penalty thanks to captain Yusuke Inaba with his second. Hungarian skipper Krisztian Manhercz joined the scorers and Petar Kovacs claimed his second to regain the lead for his country. Seiya Adachi equalised in the last second to brighten up the first session of the day.
The swapping of goals continued in the second quarter with Japan having to catch up twice before Vince Vigvari — his second — and Adam Nagy gaining a two-goal advantage. Adachi scored his second of the period and third for the match from the top only for Zsombor Vismeg to convert extra from the top for 10-8 before halftime.
Gergely Burian gave Hungary a three-goal margin a minute into the third period with Inaba pulling the trigger from the top for 11-9 soon after. Burian converted extra and Hungary was three up again. Taiyo Watanabe pulled one back but Manhercz scored twice for 14-10. Watanabe rocketed in a shot from nine metres but Vismeg maintained the four-goal advantage heading into the final quarter.
What a final quarter it was! There were 15 goals with the match at break-neck speed Hungary scored three of the first four goals, going six goals up. Japan immediately trimmed it by three and goals were traded. Adam Nagy scored three of the next four goals with Kiyomu Date splitting his record and gaining his third goal of the period. Vismeg went on counter to score for 23-17 but the goal was wiped after a Japanese challenge. Japan went to within four on counter only for Akos Nagy to collect his second goal on penalty, 19 seconds from time for the 23-18 victory.
Match Heroes
Vismeg finished with four goals with Manhercz and Adam Nagy with three each. Goalkeeper Marton Mizsei made nine saves. Watanabe scored four each for Japan with Date and Inaba on three apiece.
Turning Point
Hungary opening up the first four-goal lead in the third period.
Stats Don’t Lie
Hungary converted three from four on extra and Japan four from six. Both teams scored their two penalty attempts. Hungary made five steals to three and outshot Japan 34-33.
Bottom Line
Hungary played a style similar to Japan’s and the new rules with the shorter pool meant this was exciting from the start with some amazing goals — and plenty of them.
What They Said
Krisztian MANHERCZ (HUN) — Captain and Player of the Match
On the match:
“I’m really happy because we won our second game and are top of the group. That was our main goal after two games. I’m also happy because Japan’s playing a really tough style. They move a lot and they receive a lot of exclusions, so it’s tough to play against them. And, of course, we (conceded) a lot of goals; we need to be prepared for that. But at the end, we take the three points, so I’m really happy.
“We prepared for everything that they did today and still, they managed to score 18. Against Spain, they played 22-16, so it was pretty close, too. It’s tough to play against them. They prepared well for this whole tournament, but so did we and I’m looking forward to playing against Spain.”
On what changed after halftime:
“We prepared more for our defence in the third quarter – that was one main difference. We took a lot of steals and from those steals, we managed to score a lot of fast-break goals. The third quarter was when we managed a three-or-four-goal difference and that was the biggest key for victory.”
Match 11, Group D, GREECE 26 CHINA 5 (2-0, 10-0, 6-3, 8-2)
Greece kept China scoreless in the first half after a slow start and swam away with the match. Greece had to work hard for its first two goals, missing a penalty chance before scoring twice, three minutes apart and still having nearly four minutes in the clock, with no more scoring. China was tight on defence, but struggled to nail a goal. The second quarter was totally different with Greece gaining more confidence, faster combinations and chances that reaped rewards — especially two counters coming off fantastic goalkeeper passes. Dimitrios Nikolaidis, who backhanded his centre-forward shot in the first quarter, scored on extra off the left post and for the 5-0 goal he sent in a lightning backhander when heavily guarded. It went to 7-0 before China called a timeout to arrest the slide more than set up a goal attempt. However, Greece defended and Stylianos Argyropoulos snared his second and Nikolaos Gkillas with his second, this time from the penalty stripe. Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos and Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis gained their second goals with Nikolaidis finishing an extra-man play on the right post for 12-0 and his fourth of the match. China was still looking for that elusive first goal.
The third period meant an awakening by China, jumping on Greek errors for three goals. Wang Beiyi backhanded at centre forward for 13-1 at 5:31 while Peng Jiahao countered and Chen Rui received a cross pass on an extra-man play for 17-3. As China went 18 and a half minutes without a goal, Greece was in a situation of being nearly three minutes without and took a timeout on extra to arrest the “mini drought”. Nikolaos Papanikolaou accepted the cross pass to the left post to score easily for 18-3 before the final break. Argyropoulos and two Gkillas goals had Greece at 21-3 by 4:30. Liu Yu fired a missile from the top at 4:10 for China’s fourth goal. Greece pounded in the next five goals in just over three minutes with Chen Zhongxian firing in one from the top with six seconds left for the final score of 26-5.
Match Heroes
Nikolaidis with five goals; Gkillas and Kalogeropoulos with four and three to captain Argyropoulos were the scoring stars. Emmanouil Andreadis made 10 saves.
Turning Point
Keeping China scoreless for the first half made for a straight-forward match.
Stats Don’t Lie
Greece converted an excellent eight from 10 on extra to China’s one from three. Greece scored two from three on penalty, made 17 steals to five and shot 36 to 28.
Bottom Line
Greece is the World Cup silver medallist from this year’s edition and fifth from the Paris Olympics and last year’s World Championships. That says a lot. It was Greece’s first win after losing to Montenegro on day two. China lost to Croatia 25-6.
Whay He Said
Theodoros VLACHOS (GRE) — Head Coach
On the result:
“We had a tough match against Montenegro and we didn’t feel so comfortable. We needed today to play more freely and practise some things for the next game. I believe that we did some specific things differently and my players had the passion to swim freely and score. I’d like to see a strong team China in the future. It’s a huge country and it can help with the improvement of water polo.
On the challenge of playing Croatia next:
“It’s very hard to play Croatia. They have such a strong tradition in water polo. Croatia is probably the most successful team in the last three, four years. You need to be 100 percent ready and concentrate and play your game; you need to be close to perfect. It’s a big challenge to play against a big opponent like Croatia. Everybody prepares for this game. In a game like this you’ll see your character as a team, the reactions, and quality of your players.”
On teams from Asia and Africa being part of the world championships:
“I see teams from Asia, Africa trying. They have the power to do this. A country like China can choose from many, many players. Maybe they don’t have the quality of European teams, but day by day, year by year, they can do more steps to be closer to European teams. World water polo needs Asian teams. It’s not very nice if it’s just the European teams playing at high level. We can take some ideas from football – it’s a global sport. We have to follow sports like football and basketball.”
Match 10, Group A, SOUTH AFRICA 5 ROMANIA 24 (0-8, 1-3, 3-7, 1-6)
Romania bounced back from its first-day 17-5 loss to Italy while South Africa suffered a second big loss. Romania showed no mercy in the first quarter with eight unanswered goals. South Africa was struggling to get shots on target as well as sloppy defence proving damning. Seven different players scored with Andrei Neamtu scoring the 5-0 penalty and then the 7-2 score from the top right. Levente Vancsik lobbed beautifully from the deep right for the fourth goal. Andrei Prioteasa lunged forward and tapped in a ball slowly drifting into goal and South African head coach Grant MacKenzie protested vehemently that he was inside the shooter. The VAR review showed otherwise and MacKenzie was awarded a yellow card as he protested but did not challenge. Francesco Iudean scored the 10th Romanian goal from the top before Carl Germishuys opened South Africa’s scoring with a rocket shot after a full turn from the top left. Vlad-Luca Georgescu, the opening scorer on penalty, fired a shot from the top left faster than a speeding bullet for 11-1. Andrei Tepelus snapped in a shot from the bottom left on the buzzer, but a VAR review assessed that the ball was in hand at the end of time. Not only had South Africa scored, but it limited the Romanian chances for a 3-1 period.
Ryan Sneddon opened for South Africa from seven metres. In between David-Joan Bota doughnutted the goalkeeper with his backhand, Prioteasa fired from the top and Vancsik converted extra. Dean Sneddon backhanded an angled shot from two metres to bring up South Africa’s third goal. Iudean made it 15-3 from the deep right with a superb bounce on the acute angle. After Geogescu netted his third, Dean Sneddon did the same, scoring from a “fake” six-metre shot for 16-4. Neamtu had his penalty attempt blocked by Matthew Smith but on the next attack made amends with a seven-metre rocket on extra. Tepelus crossed from the top left for 18-4, 11 seconds from the final break for 18-4. Iudean opened on extra and Matthew Neser speared in a shot from the left for 19-5 by 5:36 in the final quarter. Matei Lutescu scored and then Georgescu thundered in a shot from deep left, much like the weather overhead. Lutescu earned his second off a long cross pass to the left post on counter for 22-5 at 2:01. David Belenyesi scored from very deep left and then earned a steal, earned a penalty foul and then had his penalty attempt blocked by Smith — his second penalty stop. Vancsik closed all scoring at 0:34 for 24-5.
Match Heroes
Georgescu and Iudean scored four each and Neamtu three for Romania. Dean Sneddon scored twice for the Africans and goalkeeper Smith had those two penalty saves in his seven saves in his three periods.
Turning Point
The 10-0 start says it all.
Stats Don’t Lie
Romania converted here from six on extra and shut out South Africa’s four attempts. Romania scored two from four on penalty, made 14-3 in the steals department and an incredible 47-18 in the overall shots.
Bottom Line
Romania is a team worthy of progressing higher into the competition while South Africa will battle out the lower group.
What They Said
Eduard DRAGUSIN (ROU) — Athlete
On the result:
“It was important for us to win this match. We went to the Olympics, and now we demonstrate that Romania have a better team.
“Now, it’s OK, but we see the next game with Serbia. Everything is difficult about playing Serbia. We’ll need to focus on our defence.”
On being the oldest player in the men’s competition:
“I don’t know what has kept me playing for so long. I like water polo. It’s difficult now. The game is very fast now. It’s changed so much. I have to do a lot of training, and have my team with me.”
Carl GERMISHUYS (RSA) — Goal Scorer
On the match:
“Tough fixture. It’s a bit enjoyable to score your first-ever international goal, so that was a really good feeling. But we didn’t do well enough on covering the counter. We’ll look towards our next game.”
On what competing in the world championships can do for water polo in South Africa:
“It shows guys who are interested in playing or in a young age group that if you work towards something, you can make it. It’s very interesting for us because we’re not a professional side at all. We all have full-time jobs and work. So (water) polo for us is more of a hobby, and for us to even get the chance to come compete at an international, prestigious tournament like this is honestly an amazing spectacle.”
On how he hopes to inspire the under-15 boys’ team that he coaches:
“I just hope that they look up to me and try to do what I do. Maybe not all of it, just the things I do well.”
Match 9, Group C, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16 BRAZIL 7 (6-1, 2-0, 4-3, 4-3)
Olympic bronze medallist USA was always going to hard to beat, but Brazil took it up to the more illustrious opponent in this American confrontation. With junior world championship most valuable player Ryder Dodd in sparkling form — gaining player of the match today — USA was assured of an excellent start and this it did with the youngster scoring three of the first four goals before Lucas Farias responded for Brazil. Hannes Daube collected his second from the top left, followed by captain Max Irving from the other side of the pool. Dylan Woodhead snapped in a short cross pass to the right-post position on extra to start the second quarter and USA was 7-1 ahead. Brazil tightened its defence and restricted USA to only one other goal with Irving smashing in a shot from his favoured position on action at 4:22. Brazil made a few shots on target, one hitting the left upright, that had beaten the goalkeeper.
Brazil proved very competitive in the third period with three consecutive goals after USA had advanced the score to 11-1. Irving closed the scoring for a 12-4 margin. Irving scored twice while for Brazil, Farias claimed his second from the top. Brazilian captain Gustavo Guimaraes buried the second and third shots with the second needing VAR to get across the line. The final quarter was also relatively even with goals traded to 14-6 — Connor Ohl gaining his first goal at this level. USA had a penalty attempt saved and two timeouts for USA realised a penalty goal to Connor Ohl (with his brother playing alongside him and his parents in the stands). Farias landed a third from the top and Jake Ehrhardt converting extra from the deep left for 16-7 at 0:32. Brazil had a timeout and the subsequent shot rebounded off the bar and the last shot saved. It proved to be a 4-3 quarter and an 8-6 half.
Match Heroes
Ryder Dodd and Irving scored four each for USA and Farias three for Brazil. Joao Fernandes made 10 saves in the Brazilian goal.
Turning Point
At 11-1, there was no turning point, although Brazil’s second half was a compliment to its determination.
Stats Don’t Lie
USA rattled in seven of 10 on extra and defended three of four. USA missed one of the two penalty attempts on offer. USA made six steals to two and shot 34 to 26 overall.
Bottom Line
USA has that elusive Olympic bronze and Brazil needs a lot of work to become the best in the Americas.
What They Said
Ryder DODD (USA) — Player of the Match
On the team performance:
“This is a new group for us. We are really getting to know each other and learning a different game of water polo. Brazil is a great team. They put up a good fight. I am really happy with the way we performed. There are some highs, but we did have some mess-ups that we (have) just got to clean up for the rest of the tournament.”
On scoring four goals in the match:
“I feel great. It was great to play with these guys. They led me to where I was in the game. So, I’m just really happy with where the team was.”
On competing together with his brother Chase DODD (USA) at Singapore 2025:
“It is really special to share a game with someone you grew up with your entire life. He watched you do everything, he watched you grow up. It is really special to share this experience with him… It gets better every time we play together.”
On brother Chase DODD (USA) being his inspiration:
“Honestly, he is my biggest inspiration. Everything I do is because of him. I played water polo because of him. Anything I do with him is incredible.”
On being one step closer to the quarterfinals:
“Every game is of equal importance. We just came in here like it was our do-or-die game, and we played our best. At the end of the day, we got what we wanted. That’s all you can really ask for at this point.”
Gustavo GUIMARAES (BRA) — Captain
On the result:
“The first quarter was very bad, we were behind 6-1, and against a good team like that, it’s hard. We’ll need to watch the video, see what our mistakes were, and think about the next game against Canada to improve, and to get the second spot in the group, and try to get a better crossover.
“It’s hard, when you start like this against a good team. The second quarter was 2-0, and it’s a closer period, but like this it’s impossible to come back against an experienced team with good players. We need to try to improve fast for the next game against Canada.”
On areas for improvement:
“We need to improve our counter-attack and defence. In the first quarter, there were a few times they came maybe six players against five. When they come like this, we cannot be six on six, and it’s hard because they go fast with the ball. We’ll need to improve on this at the beginning. It’s not exclusion, it’s counter-attack, so it’s a big problem.”
On feeling positive about their chances of advancing:
“At a world championship, you have tough games. You cannot be demotivated if things happen like this. For sure, it’s not what we want, but we need to put our heads up and think about the next game. We can get a good crossover, and it’ll be a hard and good game against Canada.”
On flying the flag for South America:
“We need to try to improve water polo all over the world, not just in Europe. Europe is where it’s famous and popular, but it’s important to start to have good teams in other continents so we can all improve. Not just for South America, but it’ll be good for the sport overall.”
Progress Points
Group A: Serbia 3, Italy 3, Romania 3, South Africa 0.
Group B: Hungary 6, Spain 3, Japan 0, Australia 0.
Group C: United States of America 6, Brazil 3, Canada 0, Singapore 0.
Group D: Croatia 3, Montenegro 3, Greece 3, China 0.
Day 6 Schedule
Match 17. 09:00. Group C, Canada v Brazil
Match 18. 10:35. Group B, Australia v Japan
Match 19. 12:10. Group D, China v Montenegro
Match 20, 13:45, Group A, Italy v South Africa
Match 21. 16:00. Group A, Serbia v Romania
Match 22. 17:35. Group D, Greece v Croatia
Match 23. 19:10. Group C, Singapore v United States of America
Match 24. 20:45. Group B, Spain v Hungary