2011

Lausanne (SUI), June 27, 2011 – The team of Serbia is the 2011 winner of the FINA Men’s Water Polo World League, after beating Italy in the decisive match of the Super Final (June 21-26) of the competition 8-7. In Florence (ITA), the local team managed to secure Serbia’s strength until the third quarter (when the two teams were tied at 5-5), but the Balkan squad made the difference in the last period triumphing by 3-2.

It is the sixth victory of Serbia in the history of the World League (which had 10 editions, since 2002), after getting the gold in 2005 and 2006 (then, as Serbia-Montenegro), and 2007, 2008 and 2010. Russia won the first edition in 2002, Hungary finished first in 2004 and Montenegro was the best in 2009. For Italy, this was the second presence in the podium of the competition, after being third in 2003.

The Serbian Winning Team - credit: Giorgio Perottoni

For the bronze medal, Croatia repeated its 2010 ranking, beating USA by 11-5. In 2009, the European team was second, while the best ranking for the North Americans was also a silver medal, in 2008.

For the remaining positions, Montenegro (winner in 2009 and second in 2010) was stronger (8-7) than Australia for the fifth place, while Canada managed to get the 7th spot by defeating China also by the minimal difference (10-9).

The complete ranking of the FINA Men’s Water Polo World League 2011 is as follows:

1.	Serbia (SRB)
2.	Italy (ITA)
3.	Croatia (CRO)
4.	United States of America (USA)
5.	Montenegro (MNE)
6.	Australia (AUS)
7.	Canada (CAN)
8.	China (CHN)

MEDALLISTS of the FINA Men’s Water Polo World League: