Montenegro’s water polo players are set to face their final match at the World Championship in Doha.

Their opponent for this concluding encounter is Hungary, the reigning world champions who suffered a shocking exit in the quarter-finals after losing to France. Consequently, they will be surrendering their title just seven months after winning it.

The “Sharks” will clash with the Hungarian team on Saturday at 8:00 AM in a battle for seventh place. Montenegro aims to secure a victory and avoid finishing eighth at the World Championship for the third consecutive time, following their placements in Budapest in 2022 and Fukuoka last year.

“This is a new opportunity for us to compete against one of the best teams globally. We are motivated and determined to conclude the tournament on a high note,” stated Marko Mršić, one of the youngest members of the Montenegrin squad.

Montenegro arrived in Qatar with the primary aim of securing a spot in the upcoming Olympic Games, a goal they achieved by reaching the quarter-finals, where they narrowly lost to Spain with a score of 15:12.

“The most important outcome is that we qualified for the Olympic Games. Although we fell short in our quest to advance beyond the quarter-finals, we had an excellent match against Greece, where luck wasn’t on our side. We lost by five points, and now we will give our all against Hungary to make this match memorable,” Mršić added.

The Primorje player also shared his thoughts on the final match where Italy will face Croatia on Saturday at 3:30 PM.

Spain and France will compete for third place at 2:00 PM.

“These are exceptional teams, among the elite in the world. It’s no surprise to see them in the final; the semi-finals often come down to small details. The French team has been a surprise this tournament, but their improvement has been evident. They went down to the Greeks by just one goal, defeated Hungary, and only lost to Croatia by five points. France has undoubtedly made significant strides recently,” remarked Mršić.

Jovan Vujović urged the “Sharks” to give their all in their final game.

“Unexpectedly, we find ourselves up against Hungary, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals. As the current world champions, they remain a very formidable team, and we are eager to conclude the tournament favorably. Our goal of reaching the Olympics was achieved, though we hoped to compete for a medal here as well, but unfortunately, that didn’t materialize,” Vujović concluded.

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