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History Created by Greece at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after Hungary Victory

Published 08/06/2021, 7:58 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Greece defeated Hungary in the water polo semifinal of the Tokyo Olympics 2020. This is a landmark victory for Greece in Water Polo. With this victory, they knocked out the most successful and favored nation to bag another gold medal this year, Hungary.

Greece triumph over Hungary at the Tokyo Olympics 2020

via Getty

What also makes this victory historic is the fact that Greece has never won an Olympic medal in Water Polo. This victory ensures that they will at least take home a silver medal this year. They will face the winner of the second semifinal between Spain and Serbia. Whereas, Hungary will now fight for the bronze medal against the loser of the second semifinal.

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Hungary was the statistical favorite coming into this match. In water polo, Hungary has a record nine gold medals, including three in a row from 2000 to 2008.

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However, Greece dominated Group with four victories and one tie in the qualifying stages. In the same pool, Hungary had three victories, a tie, and a single defeat. Not surprisingly, that defeat was a 9-10 loss to the Greeks. 

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About The Match

Greece began the first quarter with a powerful display and took a 2-1 advantage with seconds left in the first quarter. Around a minute into the second quarter, both the sides struck again and the first half ended at 3-2. In the third quarter, Hungary was playing chase with Greece.

Despite equalizing twice, Hungary could not hold on till the end of the third quarter as Greece ended up taking a 5-4 lead. In the most crucial quarter of the game, Hungary started with an equalizer in the early minutes. It felt like from this point onwards, Greece was on another level.

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They smashed in two back-to-back goals to make the game seemingly out of reach. Varga scored the 6th goal for Hungary to give them some hope. Subsequently, Greece scored twice again to make the final score 9-6 in their favor.

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So far, Greece has beaten all the odds to reach the gold medal match. The closest they came in the past was in 2004 when they lost the bronze medal match. Now, their momentum would give them the confidence to bag the gold medal. But it won’t be easy as they will face either Spain or Serbia in that match, both of whom have won the gold medal before.

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Written by:

Chaitanya Dadhwal

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