ACOG - News - IBM

(24 July 1996; Day 5)

Hungary, Italy Go Undefeated for Top Spots in Water Polo Group Play

Hungary, the winner of six previous Olympic gold medals (1932, 1936, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1976), went undefeated (5-0) in group play in the preliminary round of the water polo tournament at the 1996 Olympic Games. Hungary defeated Yugoslavia, 13-8, for the top spot in Group A.

Earning the number-one position was no easy task for the Hungarian team as three of the five victories were won by a one goal margin. Two of those three games were won by youngster Tamas KASAS, who celebrated his 20th birthday during the Olympic Games. KASAS fired in the winning goal with just eight ticks remaining on the clock in Hungary's first game of the tournament against Russia. The following day against the Germans, KASAS put the ball in the net for the winning score with 2:38 remaining. His 8 goal total ranks just third on the team.

Pacing the Hungary team and the co-leader (with Ukrainian Andriy KOVALENKO) on the tournament scoring chart is Tibor BENEDEK with 12 goals, including 4 scores in leading the team to a 10-8 decision over the Netherlands on 23 July. Zsolt VARGA, who scored two important goals in Hungary's 8-7 triumph over Spain, has seven goals.

Italy, the heavy gold medal favorite and defending Olympic champion, also came out of preliminary action with a 5-0 mark in the B Group. The Italians were virtually untested in its bracket as they all but one of their games by at least two goals. In its closest contest, Italy defeated Romania, 10-9, on Wednesday.

Fabio BENCIVENGA, speaking of his team's recent success, said they "didn't expect to be undefeated at this point (after four games) because of some trouble during some of the qualifying tournaments."

Italy's leading scorer though the five games is Carlo SILIPO with eight goals.

Yugoslavia (3-1-1), the number two seed in Group A, had one major setback in the early competition (the loss to Hungary). The team also had one other mishap, which was tying Russia 9-9 on day two of the competition.

"We should have won the game. We were leading by three and eventually we let the game get out of our hands," said Viktor JELENIC.

Yugoslavia, like Hungary, is no stranger to winning the top prize. The team captured the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games gold medal did not compete in the 1992 Games.

Mirko VICEVIC and Vladimir VUJASINOVIC, each have 9 goals in the scoring column to lead Yugoslavia in scoring.

The other second seed is the United States. The United States earned that distinction tonight by virtue of a 10-7 victory over Croatia. The team is led by Chris HUMBERT, who has tallied 10 goals in the first five days of competition.

Following is a break down of how the brackets stacked up after the preliminary competition as well as the classification and quarterfinal matchups.

GROUP AGROUP B
1. Hungary (5-0)Italy (5-0)
2. Yugoslavia (3-1-1)United States (4-1)
3. Spain (3-2)Croatia (3-2)
4. Russia (2-2-1)Greece (2-3)
5. Germany (1-4)Romania (4-1)
6. Netherlands (0-5)Ukraine (0-4-1)

11:00 ClassificationGermany (1-4) vs. Ukraine (0-4-1)
12:40 Classification Netherlands (0-5) vs. Romania (0-4-1)
15:00 QuarterfinalsHungary (5-0) vs. Greece (2-3)
16:40 Quarterfinals Yugoslavia (3-1-1) vs. Croatia (3-2)
18:20 Quarterfinals Spain (3-2) vs. United States (4-1)
22:10 Quarterfinals Russia (2-2-1) vs. Italy (5-0)

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Susan Fumagalli.


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Olympic Factoid
The Mother Nature was kind to Olympic athletes and spectators. The average high temperature during the Games was 89 degrees with an average low of 72 degrees. Highest temperature registered (20 July) - 99 degrees. Lowest high temperature registered is 79 degrees (28 July).