Montenegro downs Canada 21-7 at men’s water polo Olympic qualifier

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Canada fell 21-7 to world No. 6 Montenegro Monday at a men’s water polo Olympic qualifying tournament.

Captain Nicolas Constantin-Bacari, Jeremie Cote and Sean Spooner each had two goals for Canada, which fell to 1-1 at the tournament after opening with an 11-7 win over Brazil on Sunday. 

Mark Spooner also scored for Canada.

Dusan Matkovic and Aleksandar Ivovic led Montenegro (1-0) with five goals apiece. Vladan Spaic added three goals on three shots.

Captain Drasko Brguljan, Marko Petkovic and Stefan Vidovic had two goals each, while Miroslav Perkovic and Aleksa Ukropina also scored.

Canada will next face Greece on Wednesday. Canada was initially scheduled to face Turkey on Tuesday, but the Turks were disqualified after five players returned positive COVID-19 tests.

Greece leads Group A at 2-0, followed by Montenegro, Canada, Georgia (0-1) and Brazil (0-2). The top four teams in each group progress to the quarterfinals, and the top three teams qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Competition continues through Sunday.

The Canadian men have made four Olympic appearances, most recently in 2008 in Beijing where they finished 11th. 

The Canadian women’s water polo team has already qualified for Tokyo. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2021.

The Canadian Press