The men’s water polo semi-finals at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 will see two exhilarating clashes after GRE, ESP, SRB and HUN emerged victorious in the quarter-finals on Sunday (20 July). 

World No. 3 GRE produced a near-perfect performance to beat Doha 2024 silver medallists ITA, dominating from the beginning to make a return to the top four after missing out last edition. They will next face reigning World Cup champions ESP, who will be aiming for a fifth straight podium finish at the World Championships. ESP and Olympic champions SRB also recorded straightforward wins against their respective opponents to secure their spot in the semi-finals on 22 July.

In the highlight of the evening, HUN upset defending champions and world No. 1 CRO to set up a showdown with SRB in the last four. The match was close from the get-go with end-to-end action that saw the first quarter tied at 6-6. HUN began to pull away in the second quarter, drawing fouls and forcing errors from their opponents and a patient HUN team broke down the Croatian defence to lead 11-7 at half-time. With goals from 10 different players, HUN’s collective team effort in offence and defence ensured that they were always on the front foot even as Croatia threatened to steal a draw in the final quarter. Captain and Player of the Match Krisztian MANHERCZ played a vital role, converting four goals and leading a tight defensive strategy that forced a frustrated Croatian side to take risky shots to no avail. Leading by two goals with five minutes left, HUN never eased up and, instead, increased their intensity to score the last four goals of the match to clinch a stunning victory. 

Meanwhile, hosts Singapore finished 15th on their world championship debut after beating South Africa 14-13. After amassing a 7-2 lead at the first break, Singapore struggled to adapt to a change in pace from a resurgent South Africa. With just over two minutes remaining, South Africa narrowed the gap to just one point, but Singapore hung on to eventually take the win.
The full results are as follows –
SGP 13-14 RSA
AUS 16-9 CHN
JPN 22-11 BRA
ROU 18-12 CAN
ITA  11-17 GRE
ESP 14-5 MNE
USA 9-14 SRB
CRO 12-18 HUN

The semi-final line-ups are – 
GRE v ESP

SRB v HUN

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China’s reign as the best team free artistic swimmers continued on 20 July, as they claimed a fourth successive world crown at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025. 

Despite fielding team captain FENG Yu as a last-minute replacement following an injury to ZHANG Yayi two weeks ago, China were the indisputable champions as they performed a routine that also brought them Olympic gold in Paris 2024. 

China took top spot with a score of 348.4779. It was more than sufficient to finish ahead of silver medallists Japan (334.7232) and Spain (321.1328). 

The result meant a second world title for XU Huiyan (CHN), following her maiden one in the women’s solo technical a day earlier. This is the 19-year-old’s first world championship gold in a team event. 

XU was also in action earlier in the day, when she starred in the women’s solo free event. Her 238.7737-effort was enough to qualify for the final in first place, half a point ahead of Vasilina KHANDOSHKA (NAA) who scored 238.2762. 

The top 12 included several who shone in the solo technical, including Iris TIO CASAS (ESP, 235.3063) and Klara BLEYER (GER, 229.9099). The final takes place on Tuesday, 22 July. 

The artistic swimming action continues tomorrow (21 July) at the World Aquatics Championships Arena. The day begins with the team technical preliminary at 10am local time, before the men’s solo free final at 2pm and the women’s duet technical at 6.30pm.  

Photo Credit: World Aquatics

The World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 runs from 11th July to 22nd August 2025. More information available here

The full schedule for the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 can be found here. Details on ticketing can be found here, and information on the extensive global coverage of the event can be found here.