Some of the best women’s water polo teams in the world will gather in Rotterdam, Netherlands this week for the start of the international campaign that will culminate with the World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan in July.

Eight teams will contest the first round of matches in the Dutch city and then move on to Athens, Greece for the second round on April 19-21 to decide which six teams will qualify for the eight-team finals in Los Angeles, USA in June. Two teams from the Division II competition in Berlin, Germany early next month will also qualify.

New-look competition

The rebooted World Cup, normally a quadrennial event, has overtaken the former World League and will now be competed for annually. The World Cup was the premium women’s event from 1979 until the inaugural Olympic Games women’s competition in 2000. USA won the previous World Cup in 2018 and has four titles — including the last three — compared to Netherlands’ eight, garnered during the pre-Olympic era. Australia is third on the ladder with three titles. Netherlands has 12 podium finishes, Australia 11 and USA 10.

Stars on fire

The recent Champions League Final Four series staged in Barcelona included an illustrious mix of international stars.

The winning Astralpool Sabadell team, which claimed a sixth crown, contained USA captain Maggie Steffens, Netherlands’ Sabrina van der Sloot, as well as a handful of Spanish stars, including goalkeeper Laura Ester and perennial scorer Judith Forca. Beaten CN Assolin Matara had the Dutch pairing of Vivien Sevenich and Simone van de Kraats and Hungarian skipper Rita Keszthelyi alongside Italy’s Silvia Avegno and Spain’s deadly pairing of Elena Ruiz and Anni Espar.

The 9-8 scoreline attests to the strength of both Spanish teams and the internationals all gained valuable match practice ahead of this week’s opening World Cup event.

The teams

USA’s team again reflects head coach Adam Krikorian’s penchant for experimenting, bringing along a host of experienced athletes while giving newcomers a chance as he shapes his line-up with Paris 2024 in mind. Triple Olympic champion Steffens continues her long reign, alongside Rachel Fattal, Maddie Musselman, Jordan Raney and incomparable goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson.

Spain will be hoping to keep its current form and maintain the experienced players right through until Paris next year. With Anni Espar, centre forwards Paula Leiton and Maica Garcia, Bea Ortiz and goalkeeper Ester, Spain is well placed to perform at the highest level.

Australia’s line-up is little changed from that which contested the FINA World League Super Final late last year and will against be captained by Zoe Arancini and include the high-performing Bronte Halligan, Amy Ridge and Abby Andrews.

Netherlands, surprisingly, has not contested the World Cup since last winning in 1999. With van der Sloot, van de Kraats, Sevenich, Iris Wolves and Lola Moolhuijzen among a strong line-up, it has strong chance to at least replicate 2022 results of third in Budapest and fourth in Split.

Italy has a silver and two bronzes from World Cup play and fourth in Budapest and third in Split last year sets it up for another fine season. Evergreen Roberta Bianconi and Sofia Giustini are missing from last year, although Domatilla Picozzi, who scored three goals in the bronze-medal match in Split, is available. Avegno, Chiara Tabani, Valeria Palmieri and Claudia Marletta will need to step up to fill the void.

Greece last contested the World Cup in 2010, finishing seventh, but a silver medal from the European Championships, following seventh place at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, showed just how far this team can go. Greece bowed 9-6 to Spain in the Split final with Margarita Plevritou, Christina Siouti and Eleni Xenaki to the fore. They are playing in Rotterdam and will be ably assisted by Chrysoula Diamantopoulou and Eirini Ninou.

Hungary was fifth in 2014, but recent form suggests that history is not needed with stars like Keszthelyi, centre forward Rebecca Parkes, driver Dorottya Szilagyi, the refreshing Kata Hajdu, Greta Gurisatti and brilliant goalkeeper Alda Magyari all expected to perform.

China fronts with a list of names unknown on the international stage as the stars of the past seemingly retired during the Covid lockdowns. It will be a rocky road for the newcomers as they adjust to the faster-paced and stronger opposition.

Asian qualifier

Interestingly, in recent weeks, the Asian qualification for Berlin between Kazakhstan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Singapore, gave Kazakhstan a resoundingly flawless display in the six matches of double-round-robin play and the ticket to Berlin. Enjoyably, six of the 12 matches were decided by three goals or less.

Rotterdam schedule

Tuesday:
14:00, Spain v United States of America
16:00, Italy v China
18:30, Australia v Netherlands
20:30, Greece v Hungary

Wednesday:
14:00, Spain v Italy
16:00, United States of America v China
18:30, Netherlands v Greece
20:30, Hungary v Australia

Thursday:
14:00, Greece v Australia
16:00, Spain v China
18:30, Netherlands v Hungary
20:30, United States of America v Italy