LONDON (Reuters) - Italy beat reigning Olympic champions Hungary 11-9 in the quarter-finals of the men's water polo tournament, crushing Hungarian hopes of a record fourth consecutive gold medal.

Italy's battling performance called time on Hungary's 12-year domination of Olympic water polo and booked the Italians a semi-final clash against gold-medal favorites Serbia on Friday.

Hungary, whose tournament got off to a shaky start, fought back in the final quarter against Italy to move within one goal of their opponents but the world champions scored twice in the final minute to seal the victory in a nail-biting battle.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Ken Ferris)