In Group C, the United States overcame a smart Hungary 8-6 in what was the top two teams facing off, leaving the USA to tackle Italy in their final group game on Tuesday. Italy showed no mercy to tournament debutante India, winning 47-2. In India’s defence, it scored its first two international goals, in the opening and fourth periods.

In Group D, there was another huge score when Greece went on the rampage against Zimbabwe, winning 36-2. The hiding was not so huge for South Africa, who went down to Russia 23-5.

In the two Group A games played in the evening — one indoors and the other outdoors — host Australia breezed past Indonesia 27-2 and Czech Republic bested Uzbekistan 15-3 with Karolina Hlavata claiming six goals.

Day 2 Match Reports

WOMEN

Game 10: 9:00, Group B, BRAZIL 9 CANADA 9
Quarters: 1-1, 3-1, 2-4, 3-3
Referees: Michail Kouretas (GRE), Gabor Vogel (HUN)
Extra Man: BRA 0/11  CAN 1/5
Pens:  BRA 3/3 CAN 1/2
Teams:
BRAZIL: Victoria Chamorro, Diana Abla, Tabata Dalio, Adhara Lavatori, Luiza Saback, Mariana Roge, Roberta Hernandez, Izabella Chiappini (7), Bruna Couri, Heloisa Warren, Mirella Coutinho (2), Viviane Bahia, Raquel Pinho. Head Coach: Antonio Canetti.

CANADA: Jessica Gaudreault, Hayley McKelvey (1), Rae Lekness (1), Rachel Krieger, Dankia Kotylak, Nikoliya Mihajlovic (1), Taylor Molde (1), Cara Robinson (1), Kyra Christmas, Emma Wright (1), Kindred Paul (1), Alexa Tielman (1), Claire Wright. Head Coach: Nishant Demani.


BRA vs CAN - credit: Anthony Pearse

Brazil and Canada played out the tournament’s first draw when they ended their thrilling day-three, Group B game tied at 9-all. The game had many highlights, not least of all stirring comeback periods from both sides and another brilliant individual scoring display by Brazil’s Izabella Chiappini, who bagged another seven goals to go with the eight she put past New Zealand on Sunday.

In the opening exchanges Canada scored via an extra-man goal to Kindred Paul before Chiappini scored her ninth of the tournament on the stroke of quarter time to make it 1-1.

Brazil got off to a flyer in the second term when Mirella Coutinho scored after just 13 seconds and when Chiappini converted a 5m penalty she had earned only a minute later, the South Americans led 3-1. Canada gained one back before Chiappini fired her second penalty goal to take the Brazilians to a 4-2 advantage at the half.

The third quarter belonged to Canada as it scored four goals to Brazil’s two to lock things up at 6-6 at the final break. The highlight was a powerful counter-attack that saw the Canadians in a three-on-none situation that Alexa Tielman put away with ease.

In the final period Canada twice took the lead only for Brazil to strike back with a goal from Chiappini. Then with 43 seconds on the clock, Canada earned an exclusion, called a timeout and in the resulting extra-man opportunity Emma Wright pounded it home for a 9-8 lead.

But there was still plenty of drama to come with first Chiappini earning and converting yet another 5m penalty to level the scores with 7.4 seconds remaining, and then the Canadians moving the ball quickly up the pool where they were awarded a penalty of their own.

But alas, after several minutes of conference the referees and table officials decided the penalty was blown after the full time siren and the 9-all draw would stand. It was a fitting result.

Brazilian Mirella Coutinho, who scored two goals of her own, praised her team’s camaraderie in the comeback and lauded the skills of Chiappini.

“We never give up so before the game we believe we can win and during the game we never stop trying,” Coutinho said. “We have a great team and we are like sisters, we believe in each other. Everybody helps each other. Izabella is the best though, she is so fast.”

Chiappini said the drama at the end of the game did not concern her team as it was adamant the right call would be made. “It was over before the penalty,” Chiappini said. “We knew it was over and that it was the end of scoring.”

Tomorrow, Canada plays New Zealand while Brazil will enjoy the day off. A win for Canada by more than three goals will see it take out Group B and earn a day off before the quarterfinals. A loss or a win by less than three will see Brazil take the group.

Game 11: 10:20, Group C, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 8 HUNGARY 6
Quarters: 3-1, 2-2, 1-3, 2-0
Referees: Axel Bender (GER), Emanuel Taylan (TUR)
Extra Man: USA 0/8  HUN 2/10
Pens:  USA 0/1
Teams:
USA: Gabrielle Stone, Mackenzie Barr (3), Melissa Bergesen (1), Mary Brooks, Makenzie Fischer (1), Devin Grab, Danijela Jackovich (1), Emily Loughlin, Madison McLaren, Stephanie Mutafyan (2), Cassidy Papa, Alys Williams, Carlee Kapana. Head Coach: Kyle Kopp.
HUNGARY: Anna Horvath, Annan Krisztina Illes (2), Diana Ziegler (1), Greta Gurisatti, Ibolya KittiMiskolczi, Vivien Kovesdi, Alexa Anett Gemes (1), Krisztina Garda (1), Diana Skitter, Nicolet Keel, Brigitte Horvath (1), Rosily Major, Vanda Sanest Doroszlai. Head Coach: Andras Meresz.


USA vs HUN - credit: Anthony Pearse

The USA continued its winning form with another win, defeating Group C rival Hungary 8-6. Mackenzie Barr scored America’s first goal before Hungary’s Diana Ziegler evened the scores at 1-1. Danijela Jackovich capitalised on an extra-man opportunity before Barr scored her second to give the USA a two-goal lead at the first break.

Alexa Gemes reduced the margin to one early in the second quarter, but USA maintained its attacking pressure with Makenzie Fischer and Stephanie Mutafyan both scoring. Hungary defended a 5m penalty and managed to score another through Brigitta Horvath, giving each team two goals for the quarter and 5-3 halftime lead.

Hungary attacked strongly at the start of the second half with Annan Illes scoring from an extra-man opportunity before Krisztina Garda levelled the score at 5-5. Melissa Bergesen scored for the USA late in the term to reinstate its one-goal margin, but an exclusion allowed Illes to score another to level the game at 6-6 heading into the final quarter.
 
Both teams defended strongly early in the deciding term, before the USA unleashed two unanswered goals through Mutafyan and Barr for a two-goal victory. Hungarian Head coach Attila Mihock was red-carded 2:25 from the final whistle following a yellow in the first period and will probably miss Tuesday’s clash with India.

USA coach Kyle Kopp was proud of his team’s performance and said it deserved the win after expecting a fierce contest from Hungary.

“I’m proud of the way our team played in defence. They showed a lot of heart and character,” Kopp said.  “We’re two of the top programmes in the world and I expected nothing less than a fight.”

The USA faces another tough game on Tuesday against Italy.

Game 12: 11:40, Group C, ITALY 47 INDIA 2
Quarters: 10-1, 12-0,10-0, 15-1
Referees: Carl Burt (CAN), Natalya Rustamova (UZB)
Extra Man: ITA 16/18 IND 0/7
Pens:  ITA 4/4
Teams:
ITALY: Fabiana Sparano, Giulia Viacava (4), Giusy Citino (4), Agnese D'Amico (1), Francesca Bonino (4), Sara Dario (6), Giuditta Galardi, (6) Chiara Tabani (4), Arianna Gragnolati (6), Claudia Marletta (5), Roberta Grillo (5), Carla Carrega (2), Federica Lavi. Head Coach: Paolo Zizza.
INDIA: Vismaya Vijayakumaran, Sreekutti Jaya, Manasi Ravindra Gawde (1), Priya Chandran, Ambili Archa Anil Kumar (1), Puja Nandu Kose, Rajeshree Raju Gugale, Divya Vijayakumari, Swapnali Vijay Suryavanshi, Kalutri Mitra, Monica Peniel Moses, Aishwarya Krishna Murthy, Srabanti Das. Head Coach: Tarak Nath Shaw.


ITA vs IND - credit: Anthony Pearse

Italy defeated India 47-2 in the second Group C clash of day three under the sweltering Perth sun. The Italians scored 10 goals in the first quarter, 12 in the second, 10 in the third and 15 in the last, while the Indians scored their first goal just over 90 seconds into the first term and second with 2:52 left in the game.

For the Indians their first goal — scored by Ambili Archa Anil Kumar who made the most of a rare steal and two on one opportunity — was their first in FINA World Championships history. Manasi Ravindra Gawde scored their second with a perfectly placed lob from 8m after earning a foul.

Kumar was over the moon to have scored her country’s first goal and said she was learning with each game.

“I feel very proud to have scored the goal. Very happy,” Kumar said. “We are gaining in experience every time we play these better teams.”

Despite the lopsided score the Indians showed improvement from Sunday’s 34-0 loss to the hands of tournament favourite USA. Their biggest problem against the physical Italians was staying in the pool with no less than five Indian players accruing three major fouls.

To be fair, as hard as the Indians tried, the game was little more than shooting practice for Italy with Sara Dario, Giuditta Galardi and Arianna Gragnolati all scoring six. Italy squares off against the USA on Tuesday with a chance to win the group if it can score an upset win. Things don’t get any easier for India as it comes up against Hungary.

Game 13: 13:00, Group D, GREECE 36 ZIMBABWE 2
Quarters: 11-1, 5-1, 11-0, 9-0
Referees: Anlong Meng (CHN), Nicola Johnson (AUS)
Extra Man: GRE 2/5 ZIM 0/5
Pens: GRE 1/1
Teams:
GREECE: Chrysoula Diamantopoulou, Alkistis Christina Benekou (7), Eleftheria Plevritou (4), Ioli Angelike Benekou (1), Eleni Xenaki (1), Ionna Charalampidi (6), Aikaterini Zantou (1), Margarita Plevritou (5), Christina Kotsia, Stefania Charalampidi (6), Marina Florou (1), Stamatina Kontogianni (4), Stefania Terefou. Head Coach: Georgios Morfesis.
ZIMBABWE: Jordyn Clipston, Roxanne Shepherd, Natasha Lawson, Heidi McWade, Amilee Fury, Jessica Smith, Sarah Gentleman, Savannah Stead (1), Kelsey Hunter, Brittany Lightfoot, Joanna Beare, Sinead Cockcroft (1), Jessica Harris. Head Coach: Laura Barrett.


GRE vs ZIM - credit: Anthony Pearse

Greece defeated Zimbabwe 36-2 in the opening Group D women’s match on day three. Greece scored 11 goals in the first quarter with only Zimbabwean captain Sinead Cockcroft able to get on the board. Zimbabwe’s defence held up in the second quarter with Greece scoring just the four goals. In that time, Savannah Stead scored her team’s second and last goal for the game.

Simple mistakes allowed Greece to push further ahead in the third term scoring 10 goals to increase its lead to 25 at the last break. It was almost like target practice in the last quarter with Greece adding another nine goals.

Alkistis Benekou (GRE) ended the game with seven, while Cockcroft and keeper Jordyn Clipston (ZIM) were brave in defence. Cockcroft said they knew today would be hard but said they had learned a lot about defence and were confident of improving for Tuesday’s game against Russia.

“It was a tough game, but we learnt a lot in defence,” Cockcroft said. “We knew coming into the game they were a very strong side so it was a great learning experience.”

Greece plays South Africa in their final Group D game on Tuesday.

Game 14: 14:20, Group D, SOUTH AFRICA 5 RUSSIA 23
Quarters: 4-3, 1-5, 0-8, 0-7
Referees: Matan Schwarts (ISR), Andreas Legawa (INA)
Extra Man: RSA 2/5  RUS 6/10
Pens: Nil
Teams:
SOUTH AFRICA: Alexandra Gascoigne, Nicole Haird, Carly Wessels, Nicole McKenzie, Shelley Oosthuizen (1), Kim Rosslee (3), Kelly-Lauren Gasson (1), Lindsay Killeen, Thembelihle Mkhize, Chloe Bradley, Tayla Webb, Meaghan Oosthuizen, Bianca Van Ellewee. Head Coach: Paul Martin.
RUSSIA: Alina Litovchenko, Olga Kiseleva (1), Anastasia Simanovich (4), Elvina Karimova (5), Natalia Perfilyeva (6), Alina Tuchina (30, Tatiana Zubkova (1), Daria Ryzhkova (1), Ksenia Balay, Liubov Zubkova, Nadezhda Yarondaykina (1), Yana Degtereva (1), Anastasia Verkhoglyadova, Head Coach: Alexandr Naritca.


RSA vs RUS - credit: Anthony Pearse

Russia bounced back from its heartbreaking fourth-quarter capitulation to Greece on Sunday by taking out today’s Group D clash against South Africa, 23-5. South Africa stayed in the match for the first half but couldn’t sustain the performance against the classy Russians who kept a clean sheet in the second half.

Kim Rosslee ensured South Africa took the momentum and a 4-3 lead into the first break with two goals in the quarter, the second a stunning swim-away and bat-shot with two Russian defenders in close pursuit.

Whatever Russian coach Segey Tatarzhitskiy said in the break worked though because his side came out and scored three straight goals inside the first few minutes of the second quarter to take control of the game. The Russians used some crafty defence and determined centre-forward play by Anastasia Simanovich to hit the halftime spell 8-5 up.

The third quarter was a procession with the Russians going on an 8-0 run to head into the final rest ahead 16-5. Natalia Perfilyeva (6 goals) and Elvina Karimova (5) were on fire, scoring from extra-man and on the fast break with high shots, low shots and lobs.

The Russians dominated the final period almost as much as the third to close out the game with another seven unanswered goals. All in all, they won the last half 15-0. On Tuesday, Russia will take on Zimbabwe, while South Africa plays Greece.

Game 16: 18:30, Group A, AUSTRALIA 27 INDONESIA 2
Quarters: 6-0, 7-1, 10-1, 4-0
Referees: Keiichi Onkasa (JPN), Alexey Krapivin (RUS)
Extra Man: AUS 1/6 INA 1/12
Pens: AUS 3/3
Teams:
AUSTRALIA: Lilian Hedges, Ainsley Masek (1), Belinda Symons (3), Montana Perkins (2), Madeleine Quinn (3), Shannan Martin (5), Fiona Walsh (3), Lenke Dauda-Board (1), Maddison Schmid (1), Chloe Barr (5), Kassia Ralston (2), Jessica Zimmerman (1), Stephanie Calaizis. Head Coach: Aleksandar Osadchuk.
INDONESIA: Ayudya Suidarwanty Pratiwi, Sarah Manzilina, Starlet Viersa Utami, Dewi Ratih, Chyntia Pradjipta Putri, Dwi Anggela Olsen Tiger, Erica Fernanda, Ariel Dyah Cininta Siwabessy (2), Glindra Patricia Legawa, Febrika Indirawati, Veriza Adera Pratiwi, Amanda Raudania Santoso, Aldila Putri Santoso. Head Coach: Shuli Cai.


AUS vs INA - credit: Anthony Pearse

Australia continued its dominance in Group A with an emphatic 27-2 victory over Indonesia on day three women’s action. The Aussie women picked up where they left off against the Czech Republic, dominating each quarter with authority.

Chloe Barr and Belinda Symons led the early scoring, running the Indonesians ragged with their array of counter-attack and centre-forward goals. They received strong support from Shannan Martin, Kassia Ralston, Ainsley Masek, Jessica Zimmerman and Fiona Walsh who all converted in the first half.

Indonesian keeper Ayudya Suidarwanty Pratiwi tried valiantly to keep her team in the contest and her persistence eventual paid off. Pratiwi blocked consecutive Australian attacks before she sent the ball long for team-mate Ariel Siwabessy to convert.

Siwabessy again found the back of the net just minutes into the third term, before the Australians turned on the after burners to score 11 unanswered goals to close out the game. Lenke Dauda-Board, Madeleine Quinn, Maddi Schmid and Montana Perkins each got their name on the scorer’s sheet with clinical finishes, while Martin, Symons, Walsh and Quinn struck again to add to their multiple hauls.

Barr, who ended the game with five as captain, said there was great satisfaction in ticking off another box in their gold-medal campaign and was happy to make it two wins on the trot.

“We’re learning to work together and learning to communicate well and that is the benefit of taking it one game at a time,” Barr said. “We paid a lot of attention to our extra-man attack and to our talking and we’ve seen a massive improvement in those areas tonight from earlier in the week.”

Indonesian team manager Jusri Fathma Hakim said it was great for her team to be playing Australia and that it was a great opportunity “to mix with the best teams in the world”.

“We are proud to be the only South-East Asian nation represented here. We don’t expect to win but we will lose with pride,” Hakim said. “Our spirit is still strong even though we were playing one of the strongest teams in the world.”

Game 15: 20:00, Group A, UZBEKISTAN 3 CZECH REPUBLIC 15
Quarters: 0-3, 3-2, 0-5, 0-5
Referees: Amber Drury (USA), Rob Hammond (ZIM)
Extra Man: UZB 1/10  CZE 1/8
Pens:  UZB 0/1 CZE 1/1
Teams:
UZBEKISTAN: Elena Dukhanova, Nellya Dadabaeva, Ekaterina Palkina, Eseniya Piftor (1), Ziyeda Teshabaeva, Elina Kalimullina, Ekaterina Morozova, Regina Shaydullina, Liliya Umarova, Valeriya Kozlovskaya, Anastasiya Osipenko (2), Maftuna Pulatova, Aleksandra Dokuchaeva. Head Coach: Boris Rustamov.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Barbora Pavlikova, Nikola Busauerova (2), Aneta Sornova (1), Tereza Halova (4), Karolina Vavurkova, Karolina Kopencova, Karolina Hlavata (6), Leona Brozova (1), Linda Chladkova, Karolina Parabkova, Rozalie Fugnerova, Barbora Hlavata (1), Anezka Sesulkova. Head Coach: Michal Broz.


UZB vs CZE - credit: Anthony Pearse

The Czech Republic has scored its first win of the tournament with a convincing 15-3 dismantling of Uzbekistan in their Group A clash. Strong defence and fast attack was the Czechs’ plan for the first quarter and they executed well to lead 3-0, courtesy of goals to Aneta Sornova, Tereza Halova and Karolina Hlavata.

Uzbekistan came back in the second quarter, reducing the margin to two thanks to goals to Eseniya Piftor and Anastasiya Osipenko, who scored a pair, and at halftime it was 5-3. A red card was given to Uzbekistan’s Piftor in the third quarter, while Czech Barbora Hlavata delivered the goal of the game, shooting from halfway in the last two seconds of the term.

Uzbekistan couldn’t score against the tough Czech defence in the final quarter and the game ended on another long range goal — this time from 8m from Leona Brozova. Czech captain and leading scorer Karolina Hlavata said her side was shocked with their opposition’s early form.

“In the first quarter Uzbekistan was really fast and we weren’t prepared for that,” Hlavata said. “But then we picked up, and they didn’t have enough power to compete with us. We’re hoping the next game (Indonesia) will be easy.”

Uzbekistan’s next game is against Australia.