Serbia Faces Spain for Bronze, 36th Medal in Taranto

Seven minutes and 47 seconds remained on the pool clock in Taranto when Bogdan Gavrilovic scored on a man-up chance to put Serbia ahead 7-5. The bench jumped to its feet, Vasilije Martinovic had already celebrated a penalty a moment earlier, and everything pointed to a straight run into the final. Then Italy, the host nation and future finalist, turned the match around in the last eight minutes, closing it out 11-9 and sending Serbia into the match for third place instead. Today at noon, against Spain, that match decides whether Serbia stays at 35 medals or reaches 36 for the first time in its history at a single Mediterranean Games.

The number 35 already matches a record. Serbia entered the final day of competition in Taranto with seven gold, ten silver and 18 bronze medals, exactly what it won in Pescara in 2009, still the country’s best showing at the event. It reached that total on Wednesday evening, when rowers Martin Mackovic and Nikolaj Pimenov won gold in the double sculls and table tennis player Izabela Lupulesku took bronze in the singles. Water polo is the only event left for Serbia on the final day, and the only one that can still turn this record into something new.

How the loss to Italy unfolded

The semifinal was far from calm. Italy raced to a 5-1 lead in ten minutes; a goal from Filip Ferer and two from Alesandar Karnezeki at the end of the second quarter looked like the start of an easy win for the hosts. Serbia answered with a run of six goals in six minutes: Viktor Urosevic scored three in a row, Gavrilovic leveled it, and Martinovic, from a penalty and from open play, put the team ahead 7-5 at halftime. That was when the match turned the other way. Martinovic, rated by the team itself as the tournament’s best player, was ejected, and Serbia spent the crucial minutes without one of its key players. Coach Vladimir Vujasinovic watched Italy, helped by several disputed refereeing calls against his team, level it at 7-7, then go ahead 8-7, 9-8 and finally 11-9, before Djordje Vucinic cut the gap to 11-10 in the last two minutes. Urosevic’s final shot, with 26 seconds left, was saved by goalkeeper Francesco de Mikelis.

The numbers suggest Serbia came close. Urosevic finished the match with four goals, Martinovic with three, and Dusan Trtovic, Vucinic and Gavrilovic added one each. Goalkeeper Milan Glusac made seven saves. Serbia converted five of ten man-up chances, Italy six of 13, while both teams scored on one of one penalty shot and Serbia converted two of two overall. The referees were Maksim Gerasimov of Great Britain and Spiridon Ahladiotis of Greece.

Who plays for bronze today

Serbia and Spain meet at noon today for third place. Spain lost its semifinal to Montenegro 15-14, sending Italy and Montenegro into the gold-medal final while Serbia and Spain head into the bronze match after equally tight semifinal losses. Serbia’s squad in Taranto has been refreshed, with several debutants for whom this tournament was meant as a test for the future, so a medal today would carry double weight: a medal for a young team, and a historic 36th medal for the Serbian national team at the Mediterranean Games.

We first wrote about the water polo team when they beat Greece 15-5 in the quarterfinal to reach the semifinal. That result signaled a team ready for a medal, and the loss to Italy, disputed calls in the second half included, does not change that picture. What remains open is today’s match.

The rest of Serbia’s tally from Taranto

Alongside water polo and the rowing double sculls, the final days in Taranto also brought Serbia a Mediterranean Games record in athletics. Adriana Vilagos broke the competition’s javelin record with a throw of 65.93 meters, surpassing the mark of 62.61 meters that had stood since Almeria 2005. Mackovic and Pimenov finished the 2,000-meter race in 6:25.37, more than three seconds ahead of the Italian pair of Marco Prati and Djordje Marvucic (6:28.57), while Greeks Nikolaos Holopulos and Konstantinos Djanulis took third in 6:32.92. The same Serbian duo had won silver at the World Championship in Amsterdam just five days earlier, and gold at the European Championship in Varese in early August, so the gold in Taranto was a continuation, not a surprise.

The 20th Mediterranean Games close today with a ceremony at the Erasmo Iacovone stadium in Taranto. For Serbia, though, the real ending will be written in the pool, not at the ceremony. If Urosevic, Martinovic and the rest of the team beat Spain at noon, the number 36 becomes part of the national team’s history. If not, 35 remains the record until someone breaks it at the next Games.