Greece and Czech Republic were the first-day winners of the women’s water polo competition in Hurghada. With just four teams in the round-robin tournament, Greece produced a spectacular 7-1 second quarter to head off international debutante Zimbabwe 16-10. In the other encounter, Czech Republic turned an 8-4 first half into a 12-8 victory over South Africa.
Zimbabwe 10 Greece 16
A 7-1 second quarter put paid to Zimbabwe’s emergence on the world stage, after an excellent 2-2 opening period. The livewire Greeks, with far more experience in top water polo leagues, were corralled in the third period and kept to just two goals. The final quarter was a blinder with Zimbabwe winning 6-5 in an amazing end-to-end battle. Zimbabwe worked hard with many shots failing to find the mark, but the experience will prove valuable in the coming days and those 10 goals will be banked. Greece is a class team, which could go all the way to first place.
Match Difference Makers
Dayna Bond scored an incredible nine of her team’s 10 goals — an amazing feat. What about Nefeli Chaldaiou with eight of Greece’s goals? Two remarkable players.
The Decider
The second quarter when the margin shot to 5-2 with Zimbabwe scoring a centre-forward goal for 5-3 and then 4-0 to Greece.
Stats Critical
Greece converted all three extra-man chances while Zimbabwe scored only one from five. On penalties, it did better with three from three and Greece two from two.
They Said
Nefeli Chrysoula Chaldaiou (Greece) – I found beach water polo to be the perfect experience, I think. For sure, this sport of beach water polo has a future. Playing three-on-three on a small terrain with smaller goals, that’s a new way to play. And being in the sea, that’s definitely different than playing in the pool. I like this. And meeting the girls from the other countries has been very nice.
Dayna Bond (Zimbabwe) – It’s really cool to be here. We didn’t expect to put up a fight against Greece, but I think that my team did really well. I’m very proud of all of them. And for our country’s first international game ever, I think that we did really well. We just played our game. We worked really, really hard for this. We didn’t have any expectations coming into the game and we just played what we know. I’m really proud of how we played as a team. We held ourselves together. We really made our country proud today.
We play South Africa next, which is a really big game for us. They are our neighbours and they haven’t had a game to play against a team from Africa so, yeah, we’re going to give them a run for their money.
What Awaits the Teams?
With one match a day, Greece will take on the Czech Republic on Saturday and Zimbabwe will face neighbour South Africa.
Czech Republic 12 South Africa 8
The Czech Republic made its intentions clear with a 3-0 start that became 4-1 by the first break and 8-4 at the changeover. South Africa, getting into a rhythm, sent in three unanswered goals for 8-7 behind in the third quarter. However, the Czech Republic edged out a goal with a missile from the top to close the period. The Czechs maintained the pressure in the final quarter, winning 3-1 for 12-8.
Match Difference Makers
Czech captain Karolina Hlavata top scored with four goals while South Africa’s Kendell de Beer slotted three.
The Decider
Czech’s 9-7 goal from the top by Josefina Hola that led to 11-7 and ultimately 12-8.
Stats Critical
The Czech conversion rate on extra-man attack was better at two from six compared to two from 10. South Africa gained two penalty goals.
They Said
Nikola Busauerova (Czech Republic) – It’s amazing! If I had to sum up my first experience with the beach water polo experience, I’d say it’s fun and amazing to play in the sea. It’s not so easy to take the game from the pool to here, but I think we made a good result for the team. It takes a lot of teamwork and we started to figure out better and better how to play beach water polo. I really feel for the men having to play twice a day. That’s tough.
Paige Tancrel (South Africa) – Definitely all of us were super nervous going into this game. We hadn’t really played a game as a team together. But we’re really happy with our base and we feel there’s so much that we can work with. We showed we can play. We just need to sort out the finer details.
The first two chuckers we were super nervous. We were worried, we didn’t know what to expect. The third chucker, we started to build the momentum and we started to work our game into their game as well.
We’re super excited to play Zimbabwe next. We feel like there’s a sort of rivalry there. We always play them in sports, so it’ll be super interesting to bring this rivalry to beach water polo.
We’ve got a lot to show, and today was just a taste of what we’ve got. We’re here to show that South Africa is a water polo playing country. We just want to show what we’ve got.
What Awaits the Teams?
The Czech Republic and Greece are unbeaten after day one and clash on day two. South Africa plays Zimbabwe and one of these teams will gain a first victory.
Progress Points
Greece 3, Czech Republic 3, South Africa 0, Zimbabwe 0.