Lausanne (SUI), January 27, 2015 – The women’s national teams of Russia, Hungary, Greece and the Netherlands walked away with comfortable wins after the third round of European preliminaries of the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League 2015 taking place today, on Tuesday January 27.
In Group A, Russia defeated visiting team Italy 11-8 (3-1, 4-5, 3-1, 1-1) in Kirishi. The Russians finished seventh in the 2014 edition while their best result in the World League was a title in 2008. As for the Italian squad, they have not won a major title since 2004 but took second spot in last year’s World League. With this win, Russia takes the lead of the group, totalling 8 points. Meanwhile in Gyor, host Hungary, 2013 World bronze medallists, beat France 14-5 (3-2, 2-0, 4-2, 5-1). This is France’s second participation in the World League.
In Group B, host Greece stunned current World champions Spain in Athens 10-7 (1-0, 3-4, 3-1, 3-2) while the Dutch crushed visiting Germany 30-4 (8-1, 8-0, 7-2, 7-1) in Drachten. The 2008 Olympic champions strengthened their lead, totalling three consecutive wins (9 points) so far.
The composition of the European Groups of the FINA Women’s World League 2015 is as follows:
GROUP A – Italy, Russia, Hungary, France
GROUP B – Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Germany
Provisional rankings:
GROUP A: RUS, 8 pts (3 wins); ITA, 6 pts (2W, 1 loss); HUN, 4 pt (1W, 2L); FRA, 0 pt (3L)
GROUP B: NED, 9 pts (3W); GRE, 6 pts (2W, 1L); ESP, 3 pts (1W, 2L); GER, 0 pt (3L)
Next round (February 24, 2015):
FRA-ITA (Lille) & HUN-RUS (Kecskemet)
GER-ESP (Chemnitz) & NED-GRE (Gouda)
Auckland (NZL) will stage the women's Intercontinental Tournament for Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania from April 28 to May 3, 2015 with the following teams:
GROUP A – China, Brazil, USA, Kazakhstan
GROUP B – New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Canada
The women's Super Final of the competition is scheduled on June 9-14, 2015 in China (place to be confirmed).