Hungary and U.S. through to water polo final

By Martin Petty

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States continued their dream run in the Olympic water polo tournament on Friday with a stunning 10-5 win over Serbia to reach the final for the first time in 20 years.

The U.S., ranked ninth before the competition, will shoot for the gold against Hungary, who battled past a determined Montenegro to win their semi-final 11-9 and keep alive their hopes of a third successive gold medal.

Riding high on confidence after winning their group, the U.S. were always in control and surged ahead in the second quarter thanks to the firepower of captain Tony Azevedo, who scored a hat-trick to take his total to 13 goals in the tournament.

Serbia fought back hard in a tense final quarter but U.S. goalkeeper Merrill Moses pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the Serbs at bay.

"I had to play the game of my life to keep my team in this," Moses told reporters.

"This is a lifetime dream come true but it's not over yet. We came here to win the gold and we're going to do it."

The U.S. have not appeared in an Olympic final since the Seoul Games in 1988, when they lost to Yugoslavia.

MAJOR FIGHT

The Hungarians had a major fight on their hands in a thrilling semi-final against the tournament new boys Montenegro, who were looking for revenge after losing to Hungary in the 2004 Games while competing with Serbia.

The Hungarians, who have dominated Olympic water polo, trailed 6-3 after the first period but forward Gergely Kiss scored two stunning goals to cut the deficit before Tamas Molnar leveled moments later.

Trailing 9-8 in the final period, Montenegro refused to give in and hauled themselves back into the match when Vladimir Gojokovic floated an inch-perfect lob over the Hungarian goalkeeper to level the score.

However, spurred on by a rapturous crowd, Hungary proved too strong and scored two late goals to earn a place in the final and challenge for their ninth gold medal in 25 Olympics.

(Editing by Steve Ginsburg)