Hungary retain water polo title

Hungary have won a third consecutive gold in men's water polo - their ninth in total - defeating surprise finalists USA 14-10 in Beijing.

The United States kept the game close in the first three quarters but Hungary showed their strength with five unanswered goals to seal their lead.

Serbia beat Balkan neighbour Montenegro 6-4 to take the bronze medal.

The Serbian victory came despite the absence of top players Aleksandar Sapic and Denis Sefik.

Sapic returned to Belgrade for knee surgery on Sunday while Sefik stayed in Beijing with a broken hand.

Coach Dejan Udovicic refused to comment on rumours that the two athletes had injured each other in a fight after the team's semi-final loss to the US.

The game against Hungary was the first Olympic final for USA since losing at Seoul in 1988.

The Hungarians scored three of their goals on counter-attacks, beating the Americans across the pool.

"They are well-coached, they've got good athletes and they beat us," said US coach Terry Schroeder. "They beat us good."

The Serbs dominated their game with strong attacking until Montenegro fought back to score three late goals.

It was the first Olympic showdown between the two countries since Montenegro split from Serbia in 2006. Their joint team won silver at the 2004 Athens Games.

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