Hungary retain men's title with a Kiss

Gergely Kiss scored the winning goal as Hungary came from behind to beat Serbia and Montenegro 8-7 to chalk up the gold medal in the men's Olympic waterpolo yesterday.

The win gave Hungary their eighth Olympic title since 1932. The defending champions had never led until Kiss, a left-handed centre forward, put a straight-on shot past goalkeeper Denis Sefik with just over two minutes left in the game.

Kiss scored four times for Hungary. Driver Aleksandar Sapic, the tournament's top scorer, put in two goals to lead Serbia and Montenegro.

Serbia and Montenegro jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first two-and-a-half minutes and Hungary were forced to try to catch the European champions.

Serbia and Montenegro broke a 5-5 half-time deadlock with goals by Sapic and driver Vanja Udovicic. Hungary clawed back to tie 7-7 with 3:39 remaining after a goal and penalty shot by driver Tamas Kasas.

A clinging defence and stubborn play by Serbia and Montenegro goalie Sefik shut down Hungary's potent attack through much of the game.

In the bronze medal match, Russia beat host nation Greece 6-5. Revaz Chomakhidze scored four goals for the Russians.

Other results: Classification matches - (5/6) Germany vs Spain 6-4; (7/8) US vs Italy 9-8; (9/10) Australia vs Croatia 8-7.