The men's tournament of water polo at the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, People's Republic of China, began on 10 August and lasted until 24 August 2008. All games were held at the Ying Tung Natatorium.

Teams from twelve nations competed, seeded into two groups for the preliminary round. 44 games were played, 30 of them in the preliminary round (each team played the other teams in the group). Seven classification games and seven games in the medal round were also played.

Format The format of water polo at the 2008 Summer Olympics: Twelve teams are divided into two preliminary groups,Beijing 2008 - Water Polo Men's Draw composed of six teams each, and play a single round robin in each group. The first placed team of each group will have a bye. The second and third placed teams will play against each other in a cross-group format. Losers go on to play a series of classification games. The fifth and sixth placed teams from each group in the preliminary round play against each other in a cross-group format to determine who will play for places 9–12. These games make up part of the quarterfinal round. The fourth placed teams from each group have a bye in this round. The losers of the classification games in the quarterfinal round will play for places 11–12. The winners of the classification games in the quarterfinal round will play the fourth placed teams from each group to determine who will play for places 7–10. These games are part of the semifinal round. The losers of the classification 7–10 games will play each other for places 9–10. The winners will play for places 7–8. Winners from the quarterfinal will progress to the semifinals and play against the first placed teams in each group of the preliminary round. Losers go on to play classification games. Winners of the semifinals will contest the gold medal game and the losers the bronze medal game.

Preliminary round

Group A

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).

Group B

Classification round Bracket

Classification 7th–12th

Classification 11th–12th

Classification 7th–10th

Classification 9th–10th

Classification 7th–8th

Medal round Bracket

Quarterfinals

Classification 5th–6th

Semifinals

Bronze medal game

Gold medal game

Ranking and statistics

Final rankings

RankTeam4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.

Multi-time Olympians

Five-time Olympian(s): 1 player : Tibor Benedek

Four-time Olympian(s): 10 players : Igor Hinić : Georgios Afroudakis : Tamás Kásás : Alberto Angelini, Fabio Bencivenga, Alessandro Calcaterra : Aleksandar Šapić, Dejan Savić, Vladimir Vujasinović : Ángel Andreo (GK)

Multiple medalists

Three-time Olympic medalist(s): 10 players : Tibor Benedek, Péter Biros, Tamás Kásás, Gergely Kiss, Tamás Molnár, Zoltán Szécsi (GK) : Aleksandar Ćirić, Aleksandar Šapić, Dejan Savić, Vladimir Vujasinović

Leading goalscorers Rank Player Team Goals Matchesplayed Goalsper match Shots % 1 Alessandro Calcaterra 27 8 3.375 51 52.9% 2 Georgios Ntoskas 20 8 2.500 48 41.7% Aleksandar Šapić 8 2.500 56 35.7% 4 Tony Azevedo 17 7 2.429 40 42.5% 5 Maurizio Felugo 16 8 2.000 41 39.0% Pietro Figlioli 7 2.286 44 36.4% Felipe Perrone 7 2.286 39 41.0% 8 Valentino Gallo 15 8 1.875 31 48.4% 9 Xavier García 14 7 2.000 36 38.9% 10 Péter Biros 13 7 1.857 23 56.5% Mlađan Janović 8 1.625 38 34.2% Guillermo Molina 7 1.857 37 35.1% Source: Official Results Book (page 179)

Leading goalkeepers Rank Goalkeeper Team Saves Matchesplayed Savesper match Shots % 1 Stefano Tempesti 83 8 10.375 169 49.1% 2 Merrill Moses 70 7 10.000 117 59.8% 3 Alexander Tchigir 63 7 9.000 130 48.5% 4 Iñaki Aguilar 58 7 8.286 107 54.2% Ge Weiqing 7 8.286 143 40.6% 6 Slobodan Soro 57 8 7.125 93 61.3% 7 Robin Randall 55 7 7.857 129 42.6% 8 Miloš Šćepanović 49 8 6.125 99 49.5% Frano Vićan 7 7.000 94 52.1% 10 James Stanton 48 7 6.857 109 44.0% Source: Official Results Book (page 175)

Leading sprinters Rank Sprinter Team Sprintswon Matchesplayed Sprints wonper match Sprintscontested % 1 Pietro Figlioli 21 7 3.000 23 91.3% 2 Kevin Graham 18 7 2.571 23 78.3% 3 Maro Joković 16 7 2.286 21 76.2% 4 Tamás Kásás 10 7 1.429 12 83.3% 5 Aleksandar Ćirić 9 8 1.125 12 75.0% 6 Filip Filipović 8 8 1.000 15 53.3% Tobias Kreuzmann 7 1.143 12 66.7% Moritz Oeler 7 1.143 16 50.0% Peter Varellas 7 1.143 18 44.4% Source: Official Results Book (page 178)

Awards Media All-Star Team Goalkeeper Merrill Moses (70 saves) Field players Tony Azevedo (17 goals, 2 sprints won) Péter Biros (13 goals, 3 sprints won) Alessandro Calcaterra (centre forward, 27 goals) Mlađan Janović (13 goals, 5 sprints won) Felipe Perrone (16 goals) Dániel Varga (8 goals)

See also Water polo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

References

Sources PDF documents in the LA84 Foundation Digital Library: Official Results Book – 2008 Olympic Games – Water Polo (download, archive) Water polo on the Olympedia website Water polo at the 2008 Summer Olympics (men's tournament) Water polo on the Sports Reference website Water polo at the 2008 Summer Games (men's tournament) (archived)

External links Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics