KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand men's waterpolo team produced their most competitive performance at the world championships in Melbourne today before going down 8-11 to China.
China led 5-4 at halftime in the classification match but pulled clear to lead 9-5 after the third quarter.
Lachlan Tijsen and Zoltan Boros led the scoring for New Zealand with two goals each while Richard Claridge, Matthew Payne, Nicholas Grieve and Timothy Grace all contributed one.
New Zealand's final game is a ranking match to decide 15th and 16th place on Wednesday against Japan, who are also winless.
- NZPA