2012 London Olympics: Day 6

Ivan Cupić celebrates one of his seven goals

• Men’s Handball: Croatia booked a place in the quarterfinals with an impressive 26-19 victory over Hungary. It was a low scoring affair in the first half as Croatia went into the break with an 11-9 lead courtesy of some solid wing play by Manuel Štrlek and Ivan Cupić. Croatia got off to a storming start in the second half and led 20-13 with 15 minutes left to play. Croatia was able to hold the lead from there to the finish, with Zlatko Horvat coming off of the bench and impressing as Hungary struggled to score. Cupic finished with seven goals which raises his total to 23 and puts him as the joint highest scorer in thus far. Croatia play the other undefeated team in their group, Denmark, on Saturday at 10:15 ET. This will be Croatia’s toughest test yet and a win would put them in great shape to win the group

• Men’s Tennis: Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig went down in flames in the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles, losing 6-4, 6-4, to David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez. The Croats put up a decent effort but the Spaniards were nearly unstoppable. Despite both Croats having strong serves, Lopez and Ferrer took advantage of their early break opportunities, while putting on a clinic on their service. In ten service games, Lopez and Ferrer only lost six total points. Given their success at the Olympics, look to see these two playing together again in the Davis Cup and possibly at majors.

Croatia’s star man Sandro Sukno

• Men’s Water Polo: Croatia took down reigning world champions Italy 11-6 with an excellent performance that puts them in perfect position to finish on top of their group and clinches an appearance in the quarterfinals. The Barracuda’s strategy from the start was to collapse towards the Italian center forward and force Italy to take shots from the outside. It worked perfectly and Croatia only gave up one goal when they did not have an exclusion. Croatia went up 3-0 straight away and led comfortably from that point on.  Sandro Šukno had a hat trick and led the offense with some brilliant passing. Miho Bosković also scored three. Croatia play Kazakhstan in their next game on Saturday with the Croats being very heavy favorites in that one. 

 “We played much better than in the previous two matches. We had more patience. It wasn’t easy for us in offense because of Italy’s aggresive play. All of the fouls were close to being penalized,” -Goaltender Josip Pavić

Glasnović struggled in the double trap prelims

• Shooting: Anton Glasnović finished last in the prelims of the men’s double trap. He hit 114 out of 150 targets. He needed 137 to qualify for the finals. He competes in the trap competition on Sunday and Monday which is his stronger event.

• Sailing: Ivan Gašpić had a good day on the South coast of England, finishing 3rd and 7th in races seven and eight to move up to third overall. With three races to go, there is a three man battle for the bronze, with Gašpić having a slight cushion. Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić are in 10th through two races in the 470. Petar Cupać and Pavle Costov are in 16th in the 49er through eight races. Dan and Marin Lovrović are in 16th (last) after eight races. Luka Mratović is in 22nd after six races of the RS-X.