Serbia beats Israel to clinch Group C top spot at European water polo championship in Belgrade

BELGRADE - The Serbia men's national water polo team defeated Israel 19-9 (4-3, 5-3, 3-1, 7-2) at the European Championship in Belgrade on Wednesday evening to clinch the top spot in the competition's Group C.

With four goals, Strahinja Rasovic led the scoring for Serbia, which was without suspended Dusan Mandic.

Serbia finished on top of Group C with eight points and is followed by Spain with six, the Netherlands with one and Israel with zero points.

Serbia will join the newly-established Group E with five points - one point fewer than Hungary - while Spain and Montenegro have three points each, the Netherlands has one and France has zero points.

Serbia will next face France (January 16), Hungary (January 18) and Montenegro (January 20).

The two best teams from Group E will qualify for the semi-finals.