Dedovic helps Serbia beat the US 10-6 in the men’s water polo semifinals at the Paris Olympics

NANTERRE, France (AP) — Nikola Dedovic scored four times and Serbia beat the U.S. 10-6 on Friday in the semifinals of the men’s water polo tournament at the Paris Olympics, ending the Americans’ surprising run.

Serbia is trying to become the third men’s team to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. Just like in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, it has moved to another level after a shaky start in group play.

“We are raising our game, our performances, and I think the best one is going to come in the last one,” center Nemanja Ubovic said.

Next up is Croatia, which edged Hungary 9-8 in the second semifinal. Croatia is looking to become the fourth team to win Olympic gold as the reigning world champion.

The final is on Sunday at Paris La Defense Arena.

“We still haven’t done what we came for, which is to win it, not defend it, because this is a new team,” Serbia captain Nikola Jaksic said.

Serbia star Dusan Mandic was shut out by the U.S. after he entered with a tournament-best 25 goals. But Jaksic scored three times, and Radoslav Filipovic made 10 saves.

Serbia advanced to the semis with a 12-11 victory over Greece on Wednesday on Jaksic’s perfect skip shot from deep with 3 seconds left.

Croatia was defeated by the U.S. in its final game in group play, but it handed Spain its first loss in the quarterfinal. Then it held on against Hungary.

“The whole team showed huge character,” Croatia goalkeeper Marko Bijac said.

Luka Bukic scored Croatia’s final goal of the semifinal with 1:33 left in the third period. Hungary pulled within one on Adam Nagy’s man-up goal with 4:34 remaining, but it couldn’t find the tying score. Gergo Zalanki missed a final shot for Hungary in the last few seconds.

Loren Fatovic scored five goals on five shots for Croatia, and Bijac made 10 saves.

“We played very good in defense,” Fatovic said. “We were in some problems in the last quarter, but when you have Bijac playing in goal like that, it makes it much easier to win.”

Marton Vamos and Szilard Jansik each scored two goals, but Hungary star Krisztian Manhercz was shut out by Bijac and company. Hungary, which was trying for the program’s 10th gold medal, went 0 for 3 on penalty shots.

“We had a lot of chances. We missed almost all of them,” Manhercz said.

It was the first semifinal appearance for the United States since it won silver in 2008. It had won three straight games, including a dramatic 12-11 victory over Australia in a penalty shootout on Wednesday.

The U.S. played without Johnny Hooper after the attacker was ejected in the first quarter of the quarterfinal because of a brutality foul. Hooper’s two-game suspension was reduced to one after an American appeal, and he is expected to play in the bronze-medal match on Sunday.

“No matter what, the result in this tournament’s better than we’ve had in a long time,” U.S. captain Ben Hallock said. “But we’re not going to be happy with fourth.”

Marko Vavic scored two goals for the U.S. in its semifinal loss. Hallock, Luca Cupido, Alex Bowen and Ryder Dodd also scored.

“We couldn’t finish. That’s what it came down to,” U.S. center Alex Obert said. “We couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. We’re just a little bit short with it.”

Hannes Daube was shut out, missing each of his five shots. The 24-year-old attacker leads the U.S. with 17 goals in a breakout performance in his second Olympics.

The U.S. closed to 8-6 on Bowen’s goal with 4:42 left in the third quarter, but the Americans were shut out the rest of the way. Dedovic and Jaksic scored in the fourth to help put it away.

“Today was the night of the Nikolas,” Jaksic said. “Hopefully it gets even better in two days.”

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games