International men's water polo tournament: Georgia beats China to win bronze

The International Water Polo Tournament is coming to the end. On the closing day of the competition, Georgia and China clashed against each other in the third-fourth place match. The game resulted in favour of the European team.

Before this face-to-face struggle, both teams didn't taste the joy of victory, as both of them lost to the current finalists – Spain and Russia. In all fairness, before the starting whistle, both teams seemed to have approximately equal chances of winning the match. But right from the start, the Europeans tried to dictate the run of play and even took a narrow lead at the end of the starting quarter. Right before the midpoint of the game, they managed to develop their success when they netted three goals in succession. Holes in China’s defense eventually determined the outcome of the game. The Georgian team went into half time with 7-4 on a scoreboard, which inspired them to look optimistically at the final tournament standings.

After the half time, the Chinese team tried to turn the tables on their opponents and to revive the intrigue, but all the efforts of Chinese forwards were useless against Georgia’s strong defense. At the end of the match, the European team launched a fierce attack on the Chinese side that resulted in several consecutive goals and a significant gap in the final score.

Georgia – China – 16-8 (2-1, 5-3, 3-2, 6-2)

Goals: Marko Jelaca (1-0), Sha Shi (1-1), Zurah Rurua (2-1), Marko Elez (3-1), Xie Zekai (3-2), Marko Elez (4-2), Damir Crepulia (5-2), George Khveteliani (6-2), Chen Zhongxian (6-3), Konstantin Gegelashvili (7-3), Xie Zekai (7-4), Gu Liang (7-5), Mikhael Bagaturia (8-5), Xie Zekai – with a penalty shot (8-6), Marco Jelaca (9-6), Marco Elez (10-6), Zurab Rurua (11-6), Damir Crepulja (12-6), Zurab Rurua (13-6), Mikheil Bagaturia (14-6), George Khveteliani (15-6), Beka Kvataradze (16-6), Xie Zekai (16-7), Gu Liang (16-8).