Match Reports

Group B

KAZAKHSTAN 2 NETHERLANDS 30

Netherlands backed up its 7-6 victory over World League champion Spain with an avalanche of goals against Kazakhstan. The match was nothing more than a training session for the Dutch, one of the top three teams here, while Kazakhstan is far from the strength of previous years.

Netherlands blasted its way to a 10-0 quarter-time break and was 11-1 ahead when Kazakhstan breached the defence with an Anastassiya Mirshina potshot from the left when the defence was not watching. With Simone van de Kraats firing in her third and fourth shots, Netherlands waltzed to 17-1 before the long break.

It made 19-1 before Darya Pochinok screamed one in from the top on extra. With the score reaching 22-1, Simone van de Kraats boosted her tally to eight and 10th of the tournament, scoring four of the next five goals to go into the final break at 26-2. The final quarter was more sedate with the Dutch content to take the win. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, was looking for minor successes to take into the second half of the tournament.

Match Heroes:
Van de Kraats, obviously, with her eight goals from nine attempts. She has warmed up her left arm nicely for the upcoming matches. Maxine Schaap scored five from eight.

Turning Point:
A 10-goal first quarter says it all.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Netherlands took a huge 46 shots to 23; converted three from six on extra-man attack and converted all four penalty attempts.

Bottom Line:
Netherlands now needs to beat Israel on Thursday to take out the group and Kazakhstan will meet Spain, another tough assignment.

What They Said

DOUDESIS Evangelos  NED  Head Coach

“We played with respect. We played in the right way and nothing more.”

On the new format with two divisions in Doha next year:
“The new format will help both teams to develop — not just Netherlands, but Kazakhstan as well.”

VAN DE KRAATS Simone  NED  Eight Goals

“It was a really different match than against Spain, which was a tight game and we had to give everything. We gave everything in a really different way (against Kazakhstan). We wanted very clear communication and play together and get our rhythm for the match with Israel and the quarterfinals.”

GLUKHOVA Anastassiya  KAZ  Player

“It was judgement day.”

SPAIN 22 ISRAEL 5

It’s not often that Spain appears on the second day having not won a match and it had to play a team that won on the first day. There is a reason why Spain is the World League champion and a constant medal opponent to the world’s best team, United States of America.

Israel offered more than just resistance in the opening minutes, twice equalising before letting Spain gain some momentum and take the first period 5-2. Judith Forca scored her second to start the second period and Ariadne Ruiz brought it to 7-2. Noa Sasover provided a bright spot for Israel with a centre-forward score while heavily smothered. Three more Spanish goals, including a second Ariadne Ruiz goal, on extra, sent Spain to the halftime break at 10-3.

The third period extended Spain’s reign to 15-3 with Ariadne Ruiz snaring a third and younger sister Elena Ruiz a pair. Israel struck back twice in the final period with action goals as Spain slipped out to 20-4 and onwards to 22-5.

Match Heroes:
Ariadne Ruiz took out the top prize ahead of team-mate Paula Camus who was dominant at centre forward with four goals, three in the final period from the two-metre position.

Turning Point:
Breaking away from 2-2 to 7-2.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Extra-man was what this match was all about with Spain netting an incredible nine from 12 and defending all six Israeli opportunities. It took 34 shots to 23 and converted the only penalty foul.

Bottom Line:
Spain now has its first win and needs to beat Kazakhstan for second spot in the group behind Netherlands. Israel will learn from this before fronting the formidable Netherlands.

What They Said

RUIZ Ariadne  ESP  Player of the Match/Four Goals

“I think it is important to have a win for our confidence and help us improve for the next games. Our best thing today was our defence. It was very important to get the win.”

MAVROTAS Dimitrios  ISR  Head Coach

“It is a very big experience for us at our first World Championships. I think the team is improving and to show this in the water with high-level things. We knew it was going to be hard, but did not think we would receive so many goals (against). A few mistakes cost us, but we will get better.”

Group C

SOUTH AFRICA 2 ITALY 24

European bronze medallist Italy recovered from a slow start to rattle in the goals and come away with a healthy score against South Africa. Italy had too many guns and could move the ball faster, catching out the goalkeepers.

Italy opened and South Africa responded by 6:12 for a magnificent scoreline. Italy had trouble getting shots on target, hitting the wood and having defenders doing their jobs correctly. It was 2-1 at quarter time. In the second period, Italy went 7-0 with captain Valeria Palmieri scoring successive goals.

It became 10-1 soon after the restart with Chloe Meecham scoring South Africa’s second goal. Sofia Giustini threw in consecutive goals as the Settarosa went to 16-2 at the final break. Roberta Bianconi had her shot stopped by VAR. Another millimetre would have done it. Palmieri picked up a third before the break.

The final period went 8-0 in Italy’s favour with Giustini and Dafne Bettini grabbing their fourth goals each.

Match Heroes:
Giustini was plucked from the group, just nudging out Bettini for player of the match. Both Italian goalkeepers — Giuseppina Condorelli and Caterina Banchelli — were in form, pulling in 14 goals between them.

Turning Point:
The first-quarter Italian chat.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Italy took 39 shots to 29 and converted five from seven on extra-man attack, defending all four of South Africa’s chances.

Bottom Line:
Italy now has the hurdle of Greece for group supremacy while South Africa is eyeing a first victory against Argentina on Thursday.

ARGENTINA 2 GREECE 21

Greece had another big victory, but it will mean nothing unless it can beat Italy on Thursday and gain a quarterfinal berth. The 19-goal margin follows the 24-2 win over  South Africa on Sunday.

Argentina was all about defence, as it should have been against such an experienced team like Greece. The first period was started strongly be Eleni Xenaki with her first two touches of the ball in 42 seconds. It moved to 6-0 with two Athina Giannopoulou goals with Argentina made the scoreboard through Anahi Bacigalupo at centre forward.

Greece was made to work for its six goals in the second quarter with Vasiliki Plevritou firing twice from the left with the second a real slider into the bottom right. It was 11-1 and Greece was not going to let up at any stage. Ioanna Chydirioti scored twice as Greece surged to 14-1 and then we saw Ashley Hatcher convert extra-man attack with a long shot for Argentina. Foteini Tricha scored a hat-trick for 17-2 with two coming on the player-up situation.

Argentina was kept scoreless in the fourth period as Vasiliki Plevritou gained her third and Maria Myriokefalitaki scored from centre forward and fired in a long shot on full time for her three goals.

Match Heroes:
Tricha was a burst of energy among a very energetic team, although trying to pick a best player from the Greek team is too hard a task.

Turning Point:
The dominance of the first quarter.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Greece’s extra-man attack was wonderful at six from seven while stopping two of Argentina’s meagre three chances. Argentina missed the only penalty attempt when Julieta Auliel had her attempt blocked straight after Hatcher gained her goal.

Bottom Line:
Greece will be hoping the two big wins have been enough of a preparation for the clash with Italy, who will be thinking the same way after 27-1 and 24-2 victories. Argentina will put all its energy into the South African clash.

What They Said

BACIGALUPO Anahi  ARG  Goal Scorer

“It is an honour to play against them, one of the best in the world, especially since we are lower placed on the chart. It was a difficult match, but it puts us in a good position for playing our most important game, against South Africa (on Thursday). Last year we won against them, so we will use this as a learning experience.”

Group D

CANADA 13 NEW ZEALAND 11

These two Commonwealth nations have a love-hate relationship and both teams went full tilt, so much so that the first quarter was an 11-goal feast.  It came up in favour of Canada, which went 2-1 after New Zealand opened, went 4-1 with goals being traded until 7-4 at the first break.

The Kiwis had the better of the second quarter, winning it 3-1 for a tantalisingly 8-7. The best chance New Zealand had come after a timeout, but the team offered no shot. Canada responded with three — two on action — with Kindred Paul gaining her second.

Canada went 12-7 in front early in the fourth before the Kiwis pulled three back through Kaitlin Howarth, Millie Quin and Libby Gault for 12-10 behind. Blaire McDowell put paid to Kiwi hopes with a soft lob at 1:33 and on the next attack Howarth responded for 13-11 from right in front. Both teams took a timeout to no avail and Canada was through for its first win.

Match Heroes:
Paul took out the top award, scoring twice from the top while Shae La Roche netted three in the first six for Canada. New Zealand’s Howarth scored the most with four.

Turning Points:
The 4-1 start showed what Canada was made of and the four-goal burst straddling the last break were the basis for victory.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Both teams were excellent on extra-man attack at five from seven. Canada went 33-32 on shooting and New Zealand scored the only penalty goal.

Bottom Line:
Canada now needs to beat Japan for second place in the group and New Zealand has another daunting foe in Hungary.

What They Said

PARADELO David  CAN  Head Coach

“We had to clean up some missed blocks, one-on-ones we did against Hungary (on Sunday). We had the game under control and kept going to get out of reach and get that next goal. They kept crawling back. New Zealand has a lot of experience from the World Cup, so they built on that.”

WINSTANLEY-SMITH Angie  NZL  Head Coach

“We came here to play and Canada is a high-performance team; we saw that against Hungary (10-11 loss on Sunday). We wanted to come in and play with discipline. Things we worked on the past 12 months came into play. On Sunday (17-16 win over Japan), we proved we can play under pressure and mix it with the best. We have to step up and play hard every day.”

JAPAN 21 HUNGARY 26

 It was packed for the men’s Japanese match on Monday night and the same crowd should have been here tonight as this was sublime play by the Japanese who showed no respect for Hungary’s awesome reputation. There were responses time and again as Hungary tried to shrug off the cloying, bouncing Japanese with a penchant for shooting goals. And then there was the case of the 47 goals with two teams beyond the 20 mark — probably never seen at this level before.

The first quarter yielded nine goals and gave some indication of what was to come. Hungary opened with the first three and went to 4-1 with Japan levelling and 17-year-old Kata Hajdu getting her World Championship debut off to an excellent start for 5-4 with a penalty goal.

When Yumi Arima made it 5-5 in the first attack of the second quarter, Hungary switched out goalkeeper Alda Magyari for Boglarka Neszmely. Two Hungarian goals came quickly and Arima  added another two for 8-7 behind. Hungary went 10-7 up and four goals later it was just 11-10 thanks to another Arima strike. Hajdu netted a second and Vanda Valyi pumped in her third to give Hungary a precious 13-10 advantage at the long break. Yes, it was only halftime and 23 goals had been scored.

Twelve goals came in the third period with Hungary stretching its lead to five at 20-15. The difference was seven at one stage as Hungary went on a five-goal romp to 19-12. Eruna Ura scored two of the next three goals for Japan to close the period.

The spectators were breathless, let alone the players, as the scoring onslaught did not abate, Hungary firing out to 23-15, Japan scoring the next four with Arima in the mix again. Hungary went to 24 and Arima reached Japan’s 20 goals on extra. Dora Leimeter netted twice for Hungary and on the final buzzer, captain Akari Inaba rifled in a long shot for Japan’s 21st goal.

Match Heroes:
Arima (Pictured) was sublime with her seven goals from 11 attempts, including three penalty goals. And what about goalkeeper Yuka Kawatashiro? She made eight saves and made the scoring sheet with a length-of-the-field goal  to open Japan’s account. It spelt the end of Magyari’s reign in goal.  Hajdu, with five goals from five attempts, was Hungary’s standout.

Turning Point:
Obviously the 3-0 start and then shooting from 14-12 to 19-12 late in the third period.

Stats Don’t Lie:
The statistics show just how close these teams were with both teams converting seven from 11 on extra-man attack; both teams converting three penalty goals and Hungary shooting 42 times to Japan’s 35.

Bottom Line:
Hungary is better than Japan, but Japan has arrived as an emerging nation at the top level capable of upsetting anyone. Just ask Hungary.

What They Said:

SZILAGYI Dorottya  HUN  Four Goals

On if she has seen a match with that many goals:
“Not sure I have. Our defence was terrible. We know and have seen many videos of Japan. It can be chaos if you don’t react on counter-attack. They played very well. We played terribly. We’ve got to get our defence better before the next game.”

OMOTO Yoji  JPN  Head Coach

“I reminded the players before the game that if you say we will beat them some day and we can do it in 100 years, we have to do that today. Our men’s team played Hungary (losing 16-8) yesterday and there was a big size difference… we can play with the best in the world. The men’s system, I created (in his long tenure as national men’s coach) and the women are following up on that tactic. We still need to improve and need to play a lot more physical. We’re proud we can play one of the best teams in the world and need to do it as often as possible. Hungary is such an empire of water polo country and that we were so close has given us lots of confidence.”

INABA Akari  JPN  Captain/Two Goals

“Hungary is much better than us. We wanted to see what extent we could keep up. We didn’t think we would score that many goals. After Tokyo (Olympics) we have improved our goal scoring. With this achievement of so many goals we hope we can continue with this against Canada (on Thursday).”

GROUP A

AUSTRALIA 5 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9

USA fought off Australia in an exciting match that at one stage left people wondering whether a goal could be scored past the tight defences.

USA was off the mark first through a Jenna Flynn extra-man goal with the Aussie Stingers responding twice through Alice Williams and Amy Ridge on identical shots. Tara Prentice was awarded her centre-forward shot some time afterwards as VAR proved it had crossed the line. Jordan Raney took USA ahead for the first time on extra and Bronte Halligan replied. Ryann Neushul gave USA a two-goal lead with two scores, both on extra.

The second quarter was like a game of chess with plenty of up and downs, but nothing concrete. It’s rare for a quarter to be scoreless at this level.

Prentice broke the ice with a score on extra, accepting a pass from the near side for 6-3, nearly 10 minutes after the previous goal. Veteran Rachel Fattal scored from past 10m at the end of possession time while lying backwards, sending the missile into the top left for 7-3. Williams broke the Stingers’ drought with a rocket from the top, the first Aussie goal for 17 minutes. Australia had a chance in the last minute but was too hesitant and USA ripped up the pool for Flynn to score unguarded from deep right with less than five seconds on the clock.

Williams opened the fourth with another shot from downtown for her third goal, however, on the next attack, Australia gave up a penalty foul for Maddie Musselman to convert for 9-5. It was 5:19 and no further goal came, despite USA taking two timeouts.

Match Heroes:
Prentice, Flynn and Neushul all scored two goals while Australia’s Williams topped the scorers with three. USA goalkeeper Amanda Longan staved off 12 Australian shots to be probably the best player in the pool.

Turning Point:
The middle sector of the match where teams went scoreless for a combined 27 minutes, such was the defence. It was USA survived the drought and improved on 5-3 to an unsurpassable 7-3.

Stats Don’t Lie:
USA was deadly with nine goals from only 21 shots. Australia took 30 shots, but only scored five. USA converted four from seven on extra-man attack and stopped all four Aussie chances.

Bottom Line:
USA needs these close matches, as does Australia on the comeback from Covid travel restrictions. USA just has France to pass to finish top of the group while Australia will get an extra match and the clash with China will be a good pointer to what the team is possible of doing.

What They Said:

MUSSELMAN Maddie  USA  Goal Scorer

On Australia going 17 minutes without a goal and USA 10 minutes:
“Definitely felt like a swim meet out there without goals. We had to concentrate on passing, protecting our legs, doing what we do in practice. But it’s always a tough game, physical with Australia with the passion of both teams and in the end, fun.”

ARANCINI Zoe  AUS  Captain

“It was disappointing (to lose). It was a good hit-out with one of the world’s best. A good, physical game. We had our opportunities, but it was our execution in the end… We know we can keep pace with them. It was a good, physical game and good for us with China coming up and then we’ll see what happens. The defence of both teams was good.”

WILLIAMS  Alice  AUS  Three Goals

“ I think we got off to a good start and we were good at finding their holes. Then we lulled in defence. America is good and capitalised on these, but it is looking good going forward.”

On her shooting tonight:
“I think the goals are based on what my team do before they pass to me. They are always team goals.”

CHINA 11 FRANCE 12

France gained a historic victory over China and a first win at the World Championships. It was a tremendous match in a changing landscape that seemed beyond the youthful European team.

France opened the scoring with China going 2-1 ahead and then France turning the tables for 3-2. Two Chinese goals gave the Asians a 4-3 advantage at the first break. This became 5-3 when Huan Wang scored her second from deep right. Erica Hardy and two goals from Juliette Dhalluin, just 19 years of age, sent France to the second half with a 6-5 lead.

Four Chinese goals including a third for Huan Wang, and a second from captain Jing Zhang, had China in a commanding three-goal lead. It was a deflected Dhalluin goal that brought it to within two by the final break. It was the start of something special as France nailed four goals with Dhalluin gaining her fourth and Camille Radosavljevic her second. Orsolya Hertzka scored from deep left on extra after a timeout for 11-9. Zewen Deng made it 11-10, however, Hertzka drove in to score at 3:20 for 12-10. China’s last roll of the dice was Jing Yan’s goal from point blank in the last two seconds for 12-11.

Match Heroes:
Dallhuin, without a doubt, with her four goals. Mia Rycrow was once again excellent in goal for France with 11 saves.

Turning Point:
France’s five goals over the final break.

Stats Don’t Lie:
France made the most of China’s fouling, converting seven from 13 on extra-man attack to five from seven; took 31 shots to 26 and converted the sole penalty foul.

Bottom Line:
France plays USA and China meets Australia, but France has the inside running for at least third spot on the ladder.

Progress Points

Group A: USA 6, Australia 3, France 3, China 0.
Group B: Netherlands 6, Spain 3, Israel 3, Kazakhstan 0.
Group C: Italy 6, Greece 6, South Africa 0, Argentina 0.
Group D: Hungary 6, Canada 3, New Zealand 3, Japan 0.

Thursday Schedule

Match 09, 09:00, Argentina v South Africa
Match 10, 10:30, Greece v Italy
Match 11, 12:00, New Zealand v Hungary
Match 12, 13:30, China v Australia
Match 13, 16:00, France v United States of America
Match 14, 17:30, Spain v Kazakhstan
Match 15, 19:00, Canada v Japan
Match 16, 20:30, Israel v Netherlands