Women’s Division 2 Water Polo Tournament I Olympians to clash in quarterfinal

Overview

It was a day of interesting matches as Great Britain won Group A with a 14-8 margin over Turkiye; Czechia put paid to a plucky Singapore 15-13 to secure second spot in Group B after Germany won the group on day one; China took out Group C and Croatia made sure of Group D.

The quarterfinals will be most interesting with Great Britain up against Czechia; Germany taking on Turkiye; that all-important China-France clash, followed by Croatia-Japan.

The tournament switched to classification matches with the round 9-12 semifinals being played in the evening. Singapore had to work hard to beat Bulgaria 18-16 and Portugal upset 2020 Olympic nation South Africa 19-13 — a huge boost for the fledging water polo nation.

Match Reports

Match 9, Group A, TURKIYE 8 GREAT BRITAIN 14 (1-3, 2-1, 4-5, 1-5)

Great Britain may have led after the first two periods but it was hairy in the third quarter as Turkiye came back to snatch the lead twice inside a minute. This spurred Britain into action, scoring three straight with the third goal coming off Amelie Perkins’ arm, beating the buzzer from two metres inside her half, bouncing the ball into the net for 9-7.

She was at it again in the final quarter, scoring the first two goals for 11-7, the second a superb turn at centre forward. Turkiye’s Kubra Kus, who had already scored three goals, converted a penalty for 11-8, only for Britain to snap in twice more for 13-8. Harriet Dickens scored the first and with 1:36 remaining, she nabbed her third, from penalty, to win the match 14-8.

Match Heroes
Dickens and Perkins scored three each for Great Britain. Kus, with her four goals, and Dilara Burali with three were the best for Turkiye.

Turning Point
Britain going 3-1 up; Turkiye coming back for 6-5 and 7-6 advantages before Britain went 11-7 up and onwards to victory.

Stats Don’t Lie
Great Britain converted two from three on extra and defended three from seven. It scored all three penalty chances to Turkiye’s one success. Britain had the better of the shooting at 34-20 and lost out on steals 6-4.

Bottom Line
Great Britain is the form team here, along with China and Germany, and deserved to be in this position. Turkiye relies heavily on Kus for much of its success.

Match 10, Group B, SINGAPORE 13 CZECHIA 15 (0-5, 4-2, 6-6, 3-2)

Czechia gained the scalp of Singapore, thanks mainly to a withering opening quarter that had Singapore stunned. Five different scorers made the sheet for Czechia. The sixth goal to start the second quarter needed VAR to confirm. Singapore, with Heather Lee in top form with three goals, made it 4-1 in the next six minutes to trail by three at halftime.

Singapore worked hard in the third period, reducing the deficit to one by 2:08 with Lee scoring twice more. Lucie Votavova said, “enough is enough” and slammed in two goals, sweeping both goals from two metres for 12-9. Goals were traded with Charlene Tio snapping in a shot a second from time for 13-10 down. Ranice Yap scored her second to start the fourth period with Josefina Hola replying with her fourth goal. Yap hit the right post on penalty and it was not until four minutes later that Lee turned at centre forward and lobbed the goalkeeper for 14-12. Hola and Yap traded goals for 15-13 at 1:35 and Czechia did its country proud when a Lee penalty was saved and victory went to the European team.

Match Heroes
Votavova and Hola nailed four goals apiece for Czechia while Lee pumped in five goals and Yap three. The real hero for Singapore against was goalkeeper Rochelle Ong with eight saves.

Turning Point
The 6-0 advantage won the match. After that, Singapore won 13-9. It shows how a slow start can upset the result.

Stats Don’t Lie
Czechia had a good set of stats except for extra where it converted four from six compared to five from six by Singapore. Czechia converted just three from seven on penalty but stopped three from four. It made 12 steals to three and outshot Singapore 33-23.

Bottom Line
Czechia is a team to look out for in the future while Singapore is coming out of its shell in South-East Asia and finding out what it is like at the elite level.

Match 11, Group C, JAPAN 11 CHINA 14 (1-6, 3-2, 1-3, 6-3)

China won the clash of the Asian powerhouses thanks mainly to the 6-1 opening quarter that became 7-1 when Yan Jing backhanded from five metres as her team-mates were heading back on defence near the end of possession time. Japan came good with three of the next four goals to trail 8-4 at halftime.

Yumi Arima made it 8-5 to start the third period, but China was too good for the remainder of the quarter, firing in three goals, two from Zhou Shang. Arima did the same to start the fourth and goals were traded to 13-8. Two Japanese goals brought it back to a three-goal match with 2:15 remaining. Fuka Nishiyama scored her second consecutive goal for 13-11 at 0:50, but too late for victory. Yan Siya grabbed her third, on penalty, to secure the Chinese victory 14-11.

Match Heroes
Zhou with four goals and Yan Siya with three were China’s best shooters while Nishiyama made three for Japan.

Turning Point
The 7-1 advantage by early in the second quarter was where Japan came unstick, Like the previous match, the result was sealed at this point, even though Japan won the rest of the encounter 10-7.

Stats Don’t Lie
China managed just three from six on extra to Japan’s five from seven. It slotted both penalty chances to Japan’s missed attempt. Japan had the better of the steals at 7-4 and the shooting at 32-23 but China was more accurate.

Bottom Line
China is the Olympic team and class showed through with the fantastic start and measured defence thereafter. Japan was excellent for the most part, except the horrid start.

Match 12, Group D, CROATIA 12 FRANCE  11 (3-3, 4-3, 2-5, 3-0)

Croatia made a huge step up the international rankings by beating Olympic host France and can now look forward to more chances on the international elite stage. Croatia led by three midway through the second quarter and immediately had the advantage snapped away. It was tough going after taking the 7-6 halftime lead with Lara Srhoj continuing her fine form in Istanbul four goals. Iva Rozic also had a good start with three goals. Ema Vernoux had three for France by this stage.

France pulled up its socks and took an 8-7 lead and 9-8 before scoring the last two goals of the period for an 11-9 margin. It was seemingly France’s message that it was an Olympic team despite the list of newcomers. By 5:42 in the fourth, that lead was decimated with Jelena Butic scoring from deep left on extra for 11-11.Butic scored the winner at 1:45 from the penalty line after the French coach challenged the penalty-foul call. She lost the challenge and Croatia had the one-goal lead. France twice went forward and lost the ball at centre forward. With two seconds left and a timeout, the French shot from halfway was blocked and Croatia won the group.

Match Heroes
Srhoj with five goals with Butic and Rozic chiming in with three each. Goalkeeper Letica Medresek made a fine nine saves to get Croatia across the line. For France, Olympian Ema Vernoux hammered in five goals with Erica Hardy getting three and goalkeeper Mia Rycroft securing a polished 11 saves.

Turning Point
The second quarter where Croatia went three up and France equalised. The third period where France took the lead three times and was two up at the final break. The fourth period, where France was kept scoreless and Croatia did enough for victory.

Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia converted four from nine on extra to France’s three from seven. Croatia went two from three from the penalty line and France one from one. Croatia pipped France on steals at 6-5 and shot 35 times to 28.

Bottom Line
France has just the five returning Olympians and Croatia has been on the rise for some time. With a list of classy shooters, the future looks brights for Croatia women.

Final Points

Group A: Great Britain 6, Turkiye 3, Bulgaria 0
Group B: Germany 6, Czechia 3, Singapore 0
Group C: China 6, Japan 3, South Africa 0
Group D: Croatia 6, France 3, Portugal 0

Classification 9-12 Crossovers

Match 13, 3A BULGARIA 16 v 3B SINGAPORE 18 (2-3, 4-7, 4-4, 6-4)

Singapore was never headed with its 3-0 start and five-goal advantage in the second quarter setting the scene for victory. It came close near the end but Singapore was always in charge, especially when Ranice Yap decided to throw 15 shots and found the net an incredible 11 times. Bulgaria pulled two back in the first and then went 4-1 in the second half of the second quarter before Yap sent in two more for 10-6 at the turn. Anna Gesheva, Ivet Dimitrova and Rosita Zhelyazkova had two goals each for Bulgaria.

Yap blasted the first two of the third quarter to double the Bulgarian score and the top-scoring Bulgarian trio rattled in four goals to Yap’s one for a more impressive 13-10 differential. Heather Lee, who had three of the first five Singaporean goals, scored on extra from wide left to close the period at 14-10. Goals were traded to 17-14 by 3:05 when Michaela Naneva scored on extra. Dimitrova sent one in from the left-hand-catch position and Zhelyazkova converted a penalty foul for 17-16 at 2:05. A successful coach challenge denied Singapore the ball at 1:33 but the ball was soon stolen and Yap sat up at the top left and sent a missile into the Bulgarian goal for 18-16 at 1:12. Bulgaria took a timeout and lost the ball. Singapore took a timeout at 0:38, gained an ejection and savoured victory by retaining the ball until the buzzer.

Match Heroes
Yap with an incredible 11 goals to bring her to 18 in four matches. Lee made three and goalkeeper Rochelle Ong pulled in 11 saves. For Bulgaria, Dimitrova claimed six goals and Zhelyazkova five.

Turning Point
The 7-2 early advantage for Singapore was where the match was won.

Stats Don’t Lie
Singapore made five from 11 to Bulgaria’s two from three. Singapore converted all six penalty attempts to Bulgaria’s four from five. Bulgaria was the ace stealer at 8-1 and even took three more shots than Singapore.

Bottom Line
Singapore deserves to better placed, but the start was not good. Portugal deserves its place in the sun with some excellent extra-man plays and snappy passing.

Match 14, 3C SOUTH AFRICA 13 3D PORTUGAL 19 (4-6, 4-2, 2-5, 3-6)

Portugal gained one of the biggest wins in its short international history, by taking the 2020 Olympic team to task. South Africa did have the lead for a total 2:20, but that was it. Portugal made sure after being a goal down that it wanted this match badly, meaning it would not be playing for the last position. A 3-1 lead led to traded goals for 6-4, even hitting the right post on penalty at one stage. Goals were swapped to start the second quarter before the Africans stole three goals for an 8-7 advantage. Maria Machado scored from deep left for 8-8 and Boati Motau, who scored 7-7 equaliser, found the crossbar with her penalty attempt.

Three Fernandes goals — two to Beatriz Fernandes and one to Carolina Fernandes — pushed Portugal to 11-8. Carolina made it 12-9 and Machado 13-10 as the Africans kept coming back. The first four minutes of the fourth period belonged to Portugal with four goals making a statement at 17-10, There was an unusual, unexplained situation after Portugal scored and immediately gained a penalty to go 19-11 up. South Africa scored the last two, but Portugal can be proud of a six-goal margin against a team that always plays the world championships.

Match Heroes
Beatriz Fernandes finished with six goals and Carolina Fernandes with four, the same number as Machado. Portugal used five shooters and South Africa nine.

Turning Point
Portugal levelled at one and South Africa evened up the score at seven and went ahead at eight. However, the next two quarters belonged to Portugal going seven up by the middle of the fourth.

Stats Don’t Lie
Portugal won the match on extra, claiming six from seven and denying South Africa two from three. Both teams went two from three on penalty shots; Portugal stole six to four and shot 33 to 27.

Bottom Line
South Africa lost a lot of experience after the pre-Olympic campaign while Portugal seems to be doing everything right and hopefully list its status in world water polo.

Day 3 Schedule

Classification 11-12
Match 15. 13:00. Bulgaria v South Africa

Classification 9-10
Match 16. 14:30. Singapore v Portugal

Classification 1-8 Quarterfinals
Match 17. 13:00. Great Britain v Czechia
Match 18. 11:30. Germany v Turkiye
Match 19. 13:00. China v France
Match 20. 14:30. Croatia v Japan