Dedovic helps Serbia beat the US 10-6 in the men's water polo semifinals at the Paris Olympics

NANTERRE, France (AP) — Nikola Dedovic scored four times and Serbia beat the U.S. 10-6 on Friday in the semifinals of the men's water polo tournament at the Paris Olympics, ending the Americans' surprising run.

Serbia is trying to become the third men’s team to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. Just like in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, it has moved to another level after a shaky start in group play.

“We are raising our game, our performances, and I think the best one is going to come in the last one,” center Nemanja Ubovic said.

Dusan Mandic was shut out by the U.S. after he entered with a tournament-best 25 goals. But Serbia captain Nikola Jaksic scored three times, and Radoslav Filipovic made 10 saves.

Serbia advanced to the semis with a 12-11 victory over Greece on Wednesday on Jaksic's perfect skip shot from deep with 3 seconds left.

Next up is the winner of the second semifinal between Hungary and Croatia. The gold-medal match is on Sunday at Paris La Defense Arena.

“We still haven’t done what we came for, which is to win it, not defend it, because this is a new team," Jaksic said.

It was the first semifinal appearance for the United States since it won silver in 2008. It had won three straight games, including a dramatic 12-11 victory over Australia in a penalty shootout on Wednesday.

The U.S. played without Johnny Hooper after the attacker was ejected in the first quarter of the quarterfinal because of a brutality foul. Hooper's two-game suspension was reduced to one after an American appeal, and he is expected to play in the bronze-medal match on Sunday.

“No matter what, the result in this tournament’s better than we’ve had in a long time," U.S. captain Ben Hallock said. “But we’re not going to be happy with fourth.”

Marko Vavic scored two goals for the U.S. in its semifinal loss. Hallock, Luca Cupido, Alex Bowen and Ryder Dodd also scored.

“We couldn’t finish. That’s what it came down to," U.S. center Alex Obert said. “We couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. We’re just a little bit short with it.”

Hannes Daube was shut out, missing each of his five shots. The 24-year-old attacker leads the U.S. with 17 goals in a breakout performance in his second Olympics.

The U.S. closed to 8-6 on Bowen's goal with 4:42 left in the third quarter, but the Americans were shut out the rest of the way. Dedovic and Jaksic scored in the fourth to help put it away.

“Today was the night of the Nikolas,” Jaksic said. “Hopefully it gets even better in two days.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Serbia players celebrate after winning a men's semifinal match between Serbia and USA, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

United States' Alex Bowen leaves after Serbia won a men's semifinal match between Serbia and USA, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Serbia's Sava Randelovic celebrates after Serbia won a men's semifinal match between Serbia and USA, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Serbia's Nikola Jaksic celebrates after scoring a goal during a men's semifinal match between Serbia and USA, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It's not known the value of the Panasonic sponsorship, but sponsors contribute more than $2 billion in a four-year cycle to the IOC.

Two other Japanese companies are also among the IOC's 15 leading sponsors. Toyota, which for several months has been reportedly ready to end its contract, was contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press but offered no new information.

“Toyota has been supporting the Olympic and Paralympic movements since 2015 and continues to do so,” Toyota said in a statement. “No announcement to suggest otherwise has been made by Toyota."

Japanese sponsors seem to have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The COVID-19 delay reduced sponsors' visibility with no fans allowed to attend competition venues, ran up the costs, and unearthed myriad corruption scandals around the Games.

Tiremaker Bridgestone told AP “nothing has been decided.”

Toyota had a contact valued at $835 million — reported to be the IOC's largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

Reports in Japan suggest Toyota may keep its Paralympic Olympic sponsorship.

The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyoto, and Visa.

In a report several months ago by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, unnamed sources said Toyota was unhappy with how the IOC uses sponsorship money. It said the money was “not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”

Japan was once a major font to revenue, but increasingly the IOC has sought out sponsors from China, with increasing interest from the Middle East and India.

Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.

The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money. This is separate from TOP sponsors.

French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.

The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.

The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion in the next cycle.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

This photo shows the headquarters of Panasonic in Kadoma, Osaka prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 7, 2017. (Kyodo News via AP)