View source for 2003 Men's European Water Polo Championship

{{Short description|Season 26 of Europe championship of water ball}}
{{Infobox International Handball Competition
| tourney_name = 2003 Men's European Water Polo Championship
| previous   = 2001 Men's European Water Polo Championship
| next   = 2006 Men's European Water Polo Championship
}}

The '''[[European Water Polo Championship|2003 Men's European Water Polo Championship]]''' was the 26th edition of the event, organised by the Europe's governing body in aquatics, the [[Ligue Européenne de Natation]]. The event took place in the Aquatic Centre in [[Kranj]], [[Slovenia]] from June 6 to June 15, 2003. 

There were two [[2003 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifier|qualification tournaments]] ahead of the event, held from April 9 to April 13, 2003 in [[Kyiv]], [[Ukraine]] (with Belarus, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, France and Ukraine competing) and [[Bratislava, Slovakia]] (Greece, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Malta and Turkey).

Serbia and Montenegro won their third title by defeating Croatia in the final, meanwhile Hungary beat Russia to secure the bronze medal.

After the end of final match Croatian fans started a massive riot.[https://www.ultras-tifo.net/memories/3785-memories-riots-on-waterpolo-match-serbia-croatia-2003.html]

==Teams==
{{col-begin-small}}
{{col-2}}
;GROUP A
*{{wp|HUN}} 
*{{wp|NED}}
*{{wp|ROM}} 
*{{wp|RUS}}
*{{wp|SCG}} 
*{{wp|SVK}} 
{{col-2}}
;GROUP B
*{{wp|CRO}} 
*{{wp|GER}}
*{{wp|GRE}} 
*{{wp|ITA}} 
*{{wp|SLO}}
*{{wp|ESP}} 
{{col-end}}
<br>
==Preliminary round==
===GROUP A===
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|- bgcolor="#DCDCDC"
!width="25" |
!width="200"|Team
!width="60"|Points
!width="60"|G
!width="60"|W
!width="60"|D
!width="60"|L
!width="60"|GF
!width="60"|GA
!width="60"|Diff
|- bgcolor=#AAFFAA
|1.
|align=left|{{wp|SCG}}
|'''8'''||5||4||0||1||56||33||+23
|- bgcolor=#AAFFAA
|2.
|align=left|{{wp|HUN}}
|'''8'''||5||4||0||1||46||30||+16
|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|3.
|align=left|{{wp|RUS}}
|'''6'''||5||3||0||2||44||41||+3
|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|4.
|align=left|{{wp|SVK}}
|'''4'''||5||2||0||3||41||51||−10
|- bgcolor=#EEFFEE
|5.
|align=left|{{wp|NED}}
|'''2'''||5||1||0||4||37||48||−11
|- bgcolor=#EEFFEE
|6.
|align=left|{{wp|ROM}}
|'''2'''||5||1||0||4||28||49||−21
|}
<br>

===GROUP B===
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|- bgcolor="#DCDCDC"
!width="25" |
!width="200"|Team
!width="60"|Points
!width="60"|G
!width="60"|W
!width="60"|D
!width="60"|L
!width="60"|GF
!width="60"|GA
!width="60"|Diff
|- bgcolor=#AAFFAA
|1.
|align=left|{{wp|CRO}}
|'''8'''||5||4||0||1||38||31||+7
|- bgcolor=#AAFFAA
|2.
|align=left|{{wp|GRE}}
|'''6'''||5||3||0||2||34||31||+3
|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|3.
|align=left|{{wp|ESP}}
|'''6'''||5||3||0||2||37||35||+2
|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|4.
|align=left|{{wp|GER}}
|'''4'''||5||2||0||3||39||41||−2
|- bgcolor=#EEFFEE
|5.
|align=left|{{wp|ITA}}
|'''4'''||5||2||0||3||33||33||0
|- bgcolor=#EEFFEE
|6.
|align=left|{{wp|SLO}}
|'''2'''||5||1||0||4||39||49||−10
|}
<br>

==Quarterfinals==
*Thiursday June 12, 2003
{| style="text-align:center"
!width=200|
!width=100|
!width=200|
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|CRO}}'''
|10–6
|align=left|{{wp|SVK}}
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|HUN}}'''
|10–2
|align=left|{{wp|ESP}}
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|RUS}}'''
|10–8
|align=left|{{wp|GRE}}
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|SCG}}'''
|9–2
|align=left|{{wp|GER}}
|}
<br>
==Semifinals==
*Friday June 13, 2003
{| style="text-align:center"
!width=200|
!width=100|
!width=200|
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|CRO}}'''
|10–9
|align=left|{{wp|HUN}}
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|SCG}}'''
|11–7
|align=left|{{wp|RUS}}
|}
<br>
==Finals==
*Sunday June 15, 2003 — [[Image:Med 3.png]] '''Bronze Medal'''
{| style="text-align:center"
!width=200|
!width=100|
!width=200|
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|HUN}}'''
|12–6
|align=left|{{wp|RUS}}
|}
<br>
*Sunday June 15, 2003 — [[Image:Med 1.png]] '''Gold Medal'''
{| style="text-align:center"
!width=200|
!width=100|
!width=200|
|-
|align=right|'''{{wp-rt|SCG}}'''
|9 – 8 [aet]
|align=left|{{wp|CRO}}
|}
<br>
----

==Final ranking==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;"
!RANK
!align="left" style="width: 17em"|TEAM
|-bgcolor=gold
|align="center"|[[Image:Med 1.png]]
|{{wp|SCG}} 
|-bgcolor=silver
|align="center"|[[Image:Med 2.png]]
|{{wp|CRO}}
|-bgcolor=cc9966
|align="center"|[[Image:Med 3.png]]
|{{wp|HUN}}
|-
|align="center"|4.
|{{wp|RUS}}
|-
|align="center"|5.
|{{wp|ESP}}
|-
|align="center"|6.
|{{wp|GER}}
|-
|align="center"|7.
|{{wp|SVK}}
|-
|align="center"|8.
|{{wp|GRE}}
|-
|align="center"|9.
|{{wp|ITA}}
|-
|align="center"|10.
|{{wp|ROM}}
|-
|align="center"|11.
|{{wp|NED}}
|-
|align="center"|12.
|{{wp|SLO}}
|}
{{col-2}}
{{winners|wp|2003 Men's European champion|Serbia and Montenegro|Third}}
{{col-end}}

==Individual awards==
*'''Most Valuable Player'''
**{{flagathlete|[[Alexander Yeryshov]]|RUS}}
<br>
*'''Best Goalkeeper'''
**{{flagathlete|[[Denis Šefik]]|SCG}}
<br>
*'''Topscorer'''
**{{flagathlete|[[Aleksandar Šapić]]|SCG}}— 24 goals

==References==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040926173531/http://www.sports123.com/wpo/results/me-2003.html Results]

{{European Water Polo Championship}}

[[Category:2003 European Water Polo Championship|Men]]
[[Category:Men's European Water Polo Championship|2003]]
[[Category:International water polo competitions hosted by Slovenia]]
[[Category:2003 in water polo|European Championship]]
[[Category:2003 in Slovenian sport|Water polo]]