Greece’s men’s water polo team has claimed the bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, defeating Serbia 16-7 in a commanding performance that offered a measure of revenge for their painful Olympic qualifying defeat just weeks earlier.

It marks Greece’s fourth bronze and fifth overall medal at the World Championships — and comes just days after the women’s team took out the gold, making Greece only the fourth country in history to reach the podium in both men’s and women’s tournaments at the same event. Spain, Hungary and Italy are the only others to have done so.

While the bronze is a proud achievement, the result was bittersweet. From the quarterfinal stage onwards, Greece showed form worthy of a world title — and many will feel the team could have gone all the way, if not for a last-second semi-final loss to Spain’s Munárriz.

In Sunday’s third-place playoff, Greece delivered a complete team performance, dominating Serbia with relentless defence, clinical outside shooting and an inspired Panagiotis Tzortzatos in goal. The keeper made 11 saves in the first half alone as Greece surged to an 8-2 lead by halftime, including an 8-0 run from early in the second quarter through to the middle of the third.

Papanikolaou, Argyropoulos, Skoumpakis, and Pouros all found the net from the perimeter, while Greece also defended superbly when down a player — including one instance with two exclusions. The Serbs managed just a single goal in nearly 11 minutes of game time, and by then the deficit had ballooned beyond recovery.

Coach Thodoris Vlachos even brought on reserve goalkeeper Manos Andreadis in the final minutes, as the match wound down and the bronze was sealed.

The final scoreline — 16-7 — reflects a dominant all-round display. Greece converted 5 of 10 power plays, 2 of 2 penalties, and struck 9 times from long range. Serbia struggled with 5 of 14 extra-man situations and managed just one goal each on the counterattack and from the perimeter.

The tournament ends with Greece atop the women’s podium and third in the men’s — a milestone moment for Greek water polo and a powerful statement of the sport’s growth in the country.

Scoring by quarter (Greece listed first): 2-2, 6-0, 3-3, 5-2

Final score progression:
1-0 Papanikolaou (extra-man)
1-1 Vicso (extra-man)
2-1 Argyropoulos (perimeter)
2-2 Martinovic (counter)
3-2 Papanikolaou (perimeter)
4-2 Argyropoulos (perimeter)
5-2 Skoumpakis (perimeter)
6-2 Skoumpakis (perimeter)
7-2 Pouros (perimeter)
8-2 Kakaris (extra-man)
9-2 Genidounias (penalty)
10-2 Pouros (perimeter)
10-3 Murisic (extra-man)
11-3 Pouros (perimeter)
11-4 Martinovic (extra-man)
11-5 Martinovic (extra-man)
12-5 Kalogeropoulos (perimeter)
13-5 Alafragkis (extra-man)
14-5 Kalogeropoulos (penalty)
14-6 Martinovic (extra-man)
15-6 Gkiouvetzis (extra-man)
16-6 Kalogeropoulos (extra-man)
16-7 Mandic (perimeter)

Team statistics:

Greece: 5/10 extra-man, 2/2 penalties, 9 perimeter goals
Serbia: 5/14 extra-man, 1 penalty, 1 counter, 1 perimeter goal
Exclusions:
Murisic (substitution) — 1:55 left
Alafragkis (3 fouls) — 5:38 left
Skoumpakis (3 fouls) — 1:55 left
N. Jaksic (3 fouls) — 1:44 left

Referees: Gomez (Spain), Kovacs-Csathlos (Hungary)

Line-ups:
Greece (Thodoris Vlachos): Tzortzatos, Genidounias (1), Skoumpakis (2), Gkiouvetzis (1), Argyropoulos (2), Gillas, Kalogeropoulos (3), Alafragkis (1), Kakaris (1), Nikolaidis, Papanikolaou (2), Andreadis, Pouros (3), Gardikas

Serbia (Uros Stevanovic): Filipovic, Mandic (1), Strahinja Rasovic, Randelovic, Cuk, Murisic (1), Nikola Jaksic, Vicso (1), Vapenski, P. Jaksic, V. Rasovic, Dobozanov, Martinovic (4), Milojevic