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.
Dusan Mandic was shut out by the U.S. after he entered with a tournament-best 25 goals. But Serbia captain Nikola 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.
Next up is the winner of the second semifinal between Hungary and Croatia. The gold-medal match 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,” Jaksic 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.”
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