Canadian men's water polo team falls short of Olympic berth
Loses 8-7 to Spain at qualifying tournament
Canada's men's water polo team will not be going to the Rio Olympics after losing to Spain 8-7 in the quarter-finals of the qualifying tournament in Trieste, Italy.
Canada trailed by just one at the half, but Spain opened up a 7-3 lead by the end of the third quarter. The Canadians fought hard until the end, cutting their deficit to one by scoring with less than a second remaining in the game, before running out of clock.
In the group stage, Canada finished second in Group A with a record of three wins and two ties. Spain finished third in Group B with a record of four wins and one loss.
All four quarter-final winners advance to August's Olympics, where 12 teams will compete in the men's tournament.
Along with Spain, Hungary clinched an Olympic berth by beating Germany in the quarter-finals of the qualifier, and France did the same by defeating the Netherlands. Italy knocked off Romania to claim the last available spot.
Eight teams had already qualified for Rio: Australia, Brazil, Croatia, the United States, Greece, Japan, Montenegro and Serbia.
The Canadian women's team will also not be going to Rio after it lost in the quarter-finals of its own Olympic qualifier in the Netherlands in late March.