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| Song Jae-hoon of South Korea, right, takes a shot against Kazakhstan in the men's water polo 13th-16th place semifinals match at the 2019 FINA World Championships at Nambu University Water Polo Competition Venue in Gwangju, Sunday. Yonhap |
South Korea lost to Kazakhstan 17-4 in a men's water polo classification match at the world championships on Sunday.
Despite goals by four different players, South Korea has been relegated to the 15th place game at the FINA world Championships, and will next face New Zealand at Nambu University Water Polo Competition Venue in Gwangju on Tuesday.
Kazakhstan brought 10 out of 13 players back from the team that won the 2018 Asian Games gold medal. Kazakhstan had defeated South Korea 16-9 during the preliminary round then.
Both teams had dropped all three group matches here, and South Korea, after taking on top-five nations in Serbia, Montenegro and Greece, felt it could hang with Kazakhstan.
But Kazakhstan had other ideas. Yevgeniy Medvedev scored Kazakhstan's first goal just 29 seconds in, adding another for a 2-0 lead.
Kim Dong-hyeok scored a team-best fourth goal of the tournament at 5:14 in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 2-1, but Kazakhstan got the next two goals to take a 4-1 lead into the second quarter.
Though they didn't get much going on the offensive end, the South Koreans locked things down defensively to keep the score close for a good stretch. And about 90 seconds into the second quarter, Han Hyo-min got his fourth of the competition to make it 4-2 Kazakhstan. The Kazakhs came back with a goal 24 seconds later to restore their three-goal lead.
Lee Seong-gyu got one back for South Korea on the ensuing possession, with 5:41 left in the second. South Korea had some strong defensive play but couldn't convert chances from close range on offense. And Lee's goal turned out to be South Korea's last in the first half.
Kazakhstan scored three unanswered goals to open up an 8-3 lead at the end of the first half, though the players had to fight for every inch against determined South Korean defenders.
Kazakhstan found the back of the net twice over the opening 95 seconds of the third for a 10-3 advantage.
It was all Kazakhstan the rest of the third frame, and it entered the final period leading 15-3.
Chu Min-jong hit the left goal post with 35 seconds remaining in the third, and that was as close as South Korea came to scoring in that period.
In South Korea's first possession of the fourth, Gwon Yeong-gyun hit the woodwork. The drought finally ended with 5:17 remaining in the game, as Kim Moon-soo converted his penalty shot to end a string of 10 consecutive goals by Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan closed out the South Koreans with two more goals.
South Korea fired 17 shots at goalkeeper Pavel Lipilin and had 30 shot attempts in total, led by Lee Seong-gyu's five. South Korea failed to score in any of its six extra player situations, while Kazakhstan went 4-of-5 with man advantage. (Yonhap)
