Montenegro made a winning start to their Mediterranean Games campaign in Taranto, defeating Greece 16-14 in the standout match of the opening day.

Nine teams are competing in the men’s water polo tournament in Italy, split across two groups, with the top two from each advancing to the semifinals.

Montenegro have travelled with a relatively strong squad compared with several of their rivals, although goalkeeper and captain Petar Tesanovic misses the competition through injury. Greece, meanwhile, have brought a younger team to Taranto and are also without head coach Theodoros Vlachos, with assistant Anastasios Shizas taking charge.

Montenegro led from the opening stages and held a 9-5 advantage at half-time after quarters of 4-3 and 5-2.

Greece responded after the break and reduced the deficit during a much more competitive second half, but Montenegro maintained control whenever their opponents threatened to close the gap. The Greeks won the final two periods 4-3 and 5-4, but could not find an equaliser as Montenegro secured a 16-14 victory.

Dusan Banicevic was Montenegro’s leading scorer with four goals, while Evangelos Pouros produced six for Greece.

Elsewhere in Group A, Serbia began the Vladimir Vujasinovic era with an emphatic 32-1 victory over Slovenia. Vujasinovic has recently taken over as Serbia’s senior national team head coach, and his side allowed just one goal across the four quarters. Urosevic and Dimitrijevic led the scoring with five goals apiece.

There were also comfortable victories in Group B. Hosts Italy opened their tournament with a huge 38-4 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, scoring at least nine goals in every quarter. Matteo Iocchi Gratta finished with seven.

Spain also collected their first points with a 15-9 victory over Turkiye. Spain gradually established control after leading 3-1 after the opening period, with Marc Valls scoring five times.

France, the fifth team in Group B, had a bye on the opening day.

The group stage will determine the four semifinalists, with only the top two sides in each group progressing.

Results

Group A

Slovenia 1-32 Serbia (0-7, 0-7, 1-9, 0-9)

Montenegro 16-14 Greece (4-3, 5-2, 3-4, 4-5)

Group B

Italy 38-4 Bosnia and Herzegovina (10-1, 9-0, 9-1, 10-2)

Turkiye 9-15 Spain (1-3, 3-4, 3-5, 2-3)

France – bye

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