Day 12 Schedule

Classification 11-12
Match 39. 09:00.

Classification 9-10
Match 40. 10:35.

Classification 5-8 Semifinal
Match 41. 16:00.

Classification 1-4 Semifinal
Match 43. 17:35.

Classification 5-8 Semifinal
Match 42 .20:00.

Classification 1-4 Semifinal
Match 44 .21:35.

Match Reports

Classification 9-12 Semifinals

Match 33, JAPAN 22 BRAZIL 11 (7-1, 7-4, 4-3, 4-3)

The hard-shooting and speedy Japanese showed why they are so close to the top tier with two excellent first quarters, setting up the team for the trip to the play-off for ninth. Japan scored the first two, had one scored against and then finished the quarter at 7-1 with former captain Toi Suzuki and captain Yusuke Inaba netting twice. The second quarter was frenetic with Brazil getting into the match and figuring out how to slow Japan’s menacing attack. Goals were traded with Watanabe grabbing his second of the period and third for the match on penalty. Inaba scored his third from close in and Lucas Andrade converted a penalty foul. He was not so lucky on the next attempt a minute later, hitting the post. Suzuki and Kiyomu Date lifted the score to 12-3 with goals traded to 14-5 at the halftime break.

Pedro Real netted his third goal for Brazil from the top right to start the second half and the next three minutes were all Japan — Watanabe, Seiya Adachi (penalty) and Mitsuru Takata giving Japan a 17-6 advantage. Lucas Farias sent one in from right hand catch for 17-7 at 2:20 and Marcos Pedroso, who scored in the first quarter, had to fend off a defender to muscle in a shot from left hand catch at four metres. Inaba shot from top left on the buzzer for 18-8 for his fourth goal. The final quarter was tight, even though Japan rushed to 21-8 with Real having a penalty attempt saved. Brazil ripped in a triple with two to Paulo Oliveira and another to Andrade. Enishi Ura sent in a six-metre shot in the last three seconds for 22-11.

Match Heroes
Inaba with five goals to give him 18 in Singapore while Watanabe netted four (16), Ura, Date and Suzuki for three each. Towa Nishimura made 10 saves during his three periods. For Brazil, Real landed three goals and Joao Fernandes took in nine saves in his stint in goal.

Turning Point
That first period took the stuffing out of Brazil.

Stats Don’t Lie
Japan converted just three form seven on extra and stopped six from seven. Japan scored three from four on penalties and Brazil three from five. Brazil stole 10 balls to four and Japan shot 44 to 36.

Bottom Line
Japan will be happy with ninth place, should it get through on Tuesday, and improved in some areas, according to Watanabe. In Doha, Japan finished 13th — beating Brazil by the same score, 22-11 — and will look for an 11th-placed finish, another step up the ladder. Brazil is at least assured of a better finish than last year.

What He Said

Taiyo WATANABE (JPN) — Player of the Match

On the match:
“We did so good counter-attack, and the defence was good. Our goal was (the) top eight, but we couldn't beat Serbia in (the) crossover game. We changed (our) mind, and we (had) good motivation to win this game.”

On Japan’s next match:
“In Japanese history, ninth (place) is the most great (result). We have to do more good play, good shooting, like this game. So next game, it's important to win the game. So yeah, we will be much better.

On what a ninth-place finish would mean:
“In Japan, water polo is not famous and (not) everyone (watches) the game. If we win the game, I don't know, maybe everyone (will) watch that. And we want water polo to be famous.”

Classification 13-14

Match 32, AUSTRALIA 16 CHINA 9 (5-2, 3-1, 5-3, 3-3)

Australia has not been to this division for 52 years and made sure of plenty of goals against a worthy opponent in China. In fact, China started with the first two goals, Chen Zhongxian from the left side on the first attack and then on penalty within two minutes. The Aussie Sharks knuckled down to pull it back. Marcus Berehulak scored a penalty goal and had the second attempt blocked within 26 seconds. Captain Nathan Power and Andrej Grgurevic unleashed extra-man goals for the 3-2 lead at 3:45. Power went on counter and Tristan Glanznig scored on extra for 5-2 at the first break. Cai Yuhao had his penalty attempt blocked by Nic Porter on the first attack of the second period. Power from the top, Glanznig on penalty and Power from the top on extra, pushed the margin to six at 4:41. The Chinese drought stopped at 1:50 when Chen Rui took a cross pass on extra for 8-3, the halftime score.

There was a flash of green and white at the top of the third quarter as the Sharks poured in three goals — Mercep from the top right; Power on the left post on extra and Luka Krstic on penalty. Chen Zhongxian barred down from the top left for 11-4; Mercep replied from the top right with Chen Rui scoring from deep left. Glanznig had his penalty attempt blocked by Wu Honghui. China called a timeout and set up Liu Zhilong on extra for 12-6. Grgurevic converted another penalty to close the period seven up. Berehulak gave the Sharks an eight-goal advantage from the top but China was trying hard to make inroads with Xie Zekai from the top on extra and Cai from the same situation on the next Chinese attack. Matthew Byrnes worked hard into the right post to score for 15-8. Laurence Barker, who switched into the cage at the last break, denied Chen Zhonxian on penalty but Xie scored off the rebound. Byrnes shot with disdain from the top left at 5:29 from the top right and an Aussie timeout yielded nothing meaningful. In fact, the last five and a half minutes were all about swimming and blocked shots. Both teams had an excellent match.

Match Heroes
Power with five goals to lift his tally in Singapore to 15 was named player of the match. Byrnes and Berehulak, who were in the mix of double scorers, both finished equal second with nine goals. Porter pulled in 47 saves. For China, captain Chen Zhongxian scored three for 13 in Singapore with Chen Rui netting twice (4). Xie, who scored a goal today, finished second with six for China. Goalkeeper Wu made 33 saves.

Turning Point
Australia coming from 2-0 down  to shoot to 11-3 early in the third quarter.

Stats Don’t Lie
Australia converted five from six on extra to China’s five from eight. Australia missed two of six on penalty and stopped two of three. China stole nine to five and shot 36 to 31 times.

Bottom Line
Australia will be disappointed with the final result, but it was a particularly tough group, losing to Greece by a goal to be denied entry to the top 12. Australia was last here in the inaugural championships in 1973, finishing 14th behind Bulgaria in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. For China, 14th is two down from Doha last year.

What He Said

Nathan POWER (AUS) — Captain and Five Goals

On Australia’s overall performance:
“It's obviously nice to finish the tournament strong. And I think we started to find some of the things that we wanted to find later in the tournament. For us now, it's trying to look at how we can make sure we're more consistent (and) start off with those sort of key characteristics.
“They’re probably just some of the key elements for that. Our defence, which has always been quite strong, we need to make sure it's there. And then with our attack, just looking at how we can create more opportunities for ourselves.
“I think we're a team that I believe, we all believe, that we should be playing much deeper into this tournament and looking to compete in the big games in the last days. So, for us, these last few days were as much about still finding that amongst ourselves and still proving a bit of that to ourselves more than anything. And yeah, now we'll look to refresh and make sure that come the next big tournament, we are there right up until the end.”

On playing in Singapore:
“Wonderful. I was lucky enough to come here 10 years ago, and getting to come back now and see the city here, it's a really beautiful city. The event's been awesome. So wonderfully organised. As much as we might not have enjoyed our results, we have really enjoyed our time in Singapore, and the hospitality of the Singaporean people.”

Classification 15-16 

Match 31, SOUTH AFRICA 13 SINGAPORE 14 (2-7, 4-3, 3-3, 4-1)

This was a thrilling encounter and the host nation wanted to show its supporters what it was capable of in home waters. Singapore met resistance in the last three quarters of the match but had it under control until the final whistle, just. Singapore opened the scoring and had the scoreboard showing 5-1 at 2:06. By the first break, the board read 7-2 with Sanjiv Rajandra and Jian Ying Koh scoring two each. This is what saved Singapore in the final analysis. Matthew Neser and Calvin Kuperus converted extra-man plays at the top of the second quarter, clawing back the deficit to three. Wen Zhe Goh and Shaunn Lok shunted the score to 9-5. Brett Sneddon and Ryan Sneddon, on backhand from two metres, narrowed the margin to three. This was adjusted by Wen Zhe Goh on extra, 15 seconds from halftime.

It was an interesting third quarter with Wen Zhe Goh inflating the score to 11-6 on extra. Ryan Sneddon had his penalty attempt hit the wood. After a long break for a Singapore challenge, it was lost and Brett Sneddon converted the penalty foul. Justin Saik scored into a goalkeeper-less goal as he had been ejected. South African captain Dylan Watt had his penalty rejected by Ken Chou and Wen Zhe Goh scored off the centre-forward position on extra. Watt scored from the four-metres mark off a cross pass for 13-9 in arrears. Zhi Zhi Loh started the fourth quarter off the left-post position and Brett Sneddon replied on penalty. Wen Zhe Goh was red-carded after a lengthy VAR review for an alleged violent incident. It was not bad enough for violence and both teams were even. South Africa then went on the charge with the next three goals — Matthew Bowers from deep right, Tristen Grimett gaining his first goal in Singapore with a rebound of his two-metre shot and Ryan Sneddon with a lob from deep left. It was now 14-13 with 2:27 on the clock. The final South African shot was haphazardly bounced over the goal and Singapore retained for the victory.

Match Heroes
Rajandra was the hero with three goals and Wen Zhe Goh also had three before being red-carded. Both these players scored eight goals for the tournament. Ken Chou made 13 saves for 32 this week. South Africa’s Sneddon boys were busy. Brett Sneddon scored a hat-trick for five in total, Dylan Watt grabbed a pair for four and Ryan Sneddon scored twice and Dean Sneddon one.

Turning Point
That surge to 7-2 was where the match was won. Anything after that was too late.

Stats Don’t Lie
Singapore  went five from seven on extra to South Africa’s four from six. On penalties, Singapore converted three from four to two from four. South Africa stole the ball nine to eight and outshot Singapore 35-31.

Bottom Line
Singapore gained its first win and secured 15th place. In fact, it was its first win in its first attendance at this level and took the 15th place South Africa earned in Doha last year. Sadly for the Africans, they left their best for last. Another quarter and it could have won.

What They Said

Kan AOYAGI (SGP) — Head Coach

On the team’s debut World Aquatics Championships: 
“They did a great job. Our target was to win one game during the World Championships, so at least we’ve completed our mission. We’ve been doing enhanced training and they have been full-time athletes since January and they were doing well these last six months. We’ve been working really hard and they’ve never been full-time athletes before. We really tried to change their mind and we are working really hard and they are following me all the time. I’m really proud of them and I’m honoured to be part of them. I would like to compliment them, really, they did a great job today.
“In their first match, they were nervous but they are getting better each match. Definitely next time, when we play against Brazil or Canada, we can play better, but we hope one day we can beat them. It’s decent because they are experiencing this for the first time. I hope next time, we can go to the Asian Championships and be second or first and then go to the World Cup.” 

On the turning point of the match today: 
“The turning point was the last quarter. Of course, South Africa also doesn’t want to be last and they became aggressive. The turning point was they started to change their tactics and started pressing. They are 2m, 100kg guys and if we cannot get ordinary fouls, we cannot compete in body size. After they changed their tactics, we changed ours a bit later and slower. They became tired and they became nervous. When they became nervous, they couldn’t control the game and a few players lost their cool and focused on grabbing the opponents. That’s why it became a close game. But I believe our potential, our ability is not like this result. We are much, much stronger than South Africa, so it was a great game because we won. They got good experience from it and our next target is the SEA Games and the Asian Games. After we talk and give feedback, I think we can make good progress from now and move forward. 
“Today was great even if the game was tight. It was 10 out of 10 points because we won. We are doing well, and even winning a close game is winning. Even if we win by 100 points, it’s one victory.” 

Sanjiv RAJANDRA (SGP) — Player of the Match

On the match:
“It feels pretty good coming away with the win, finally. It was a bit scary. We had control of the game all the way, and then (in the) last quarter, I think our concentration just slipped, then we let our five-goal lead go. It was very nervy, but I’m happy to come away with a win. But I think that's what happens when you have a really young team, competing in a very, very big competition for the first time. The nerves are going to take control at some point. With more experience, with more competitions under our belt, I think for sure we'll be able to control that.”

On playing at home:
“Amazing. Surreal. Getting to play in front of family, friends, the Singapore spectators, is really a true blessing. I think I said before, I never got to play in Singapore before. So, playing in Singapore is a really, really good opportunity for me. A few of my friends, my family are here today. Seeing them in the stands helped me for sure. By the second quarter, I was already gone. I was done for the game. But then, seeing them here coming to support at 9am in the morning, first game in the morning, early in the morning. It gave me the extra boost that I needed.”

On what Singapore learnt overall:
“We still have a long way to go, for sure. But slowly, with more experience and more practice, more games, going overseas for more competitions, I think this team has a bright future for sure.”