Greece defeated Hungary 12-9 in the gold-medal final of the World Aquatics Championships women’s water polo competition at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on Wednesday. Spain clinched the bronze medal over United States of America 13-12.
Overview
In the gold-medal encounter, Greece stunned Hungary 12-9 with an 8-4 halftime lead and 10-6 at the final break, extending that to 12-6 two minutes into the final quarter, allowing no space for Hungary to come back from. By winning this gold medal it adds to the World Cup crown it earned last April. And is the second title after winning in Shanghai, China in 2011. For Hungary it is a fourth silver medal from six finals. The two teams met in the round matches on day one and Hungary had the edge 10-9.
In the bronze-medal encounter, Olympic champion Spain led from the front to beat outgoing world champion United States of America 13-12 after leading by four goals in the third period on several occasions.
In the classification match 5-6, Netherlands outdid Olympic silver medallist Australia 13-11 after being 4-2 behind at one stage.
In the classification 7-8 match, Italy finished a 20-15 winner over Japan, a team that has never finished this high before. Italy was seventh at Doha 2023 as well.
Final Placings:
1. Greece
2. Hungary
3. Spain
4. United States of America
5. Netherlands
6. Australia
7. Italy
8. Japan
9. China
10. New Zealand
11. Great Britain
12. France
13. Croatia
14. Argentina
15. South Africa
16. Singapore
Awards
Most Valuable Player
Rita Keszthelyi (HUN) — Left
Best Goalkeeper
Ioanna Stamatopoulou (GRE) — Third left
Highest Goal-Scorer
Foteini Tricha (GRE) — 25 — Fourth left
Player of the Final
Eleni Xenaki (GRE) — Second left
Media All Star Team
Goalkeeper:
Ioanna Stamatopoulou (GRE)
Field Players:
Yumi Arima (JPN)
Emily Ausmus (USA)
Agnese Cocchiere (ITA)
Rita Keszthelyi (HUN)
Foteini Tricha (GRE)
Morgan McDowall (NZL)
Match Reports
Classification 1-2
Match 48, GREECE 12 HUNGARY 9 (3-1, 5-3, 2-2, 2-3)
World Cup champion Greece has taken one step up and added the World Aquatics Championships crown to its cabinet. These are the glory years for Greek water polo with its men about to play for bronze on Thursday.
What an incredible match this was. Two champion teams playing as hard and fast as they could to get to the last quarter ahead. One could manage to put away the goals and the other was thwarted at every turn.
Foteini Tricha opened the match on penalty with Natasa Rybanska responding with a lob from the right. Eleni Xenaki tipped the ball in from the right post and Greek captain Eleftheria Plevritou converted a penalty at 0:45 for 3-1 at the first break. Tricha started the second quarter from the top on extra at 5:22. Hungary called a timeout and yielded nothing more than restricting Greece from breaching its defence until 3:05 when Vasiliki Plevritou blasted from the top for 5-1. Greece nearly had another across the line and while Greece was wondering what happened, Vanda Valyi went on counter and scored Hungary’s first goal in nine minutes. Xenaki and Dora Leimeter traded; Xenaki and Kata Hajdu traded with the latter sending in a missile from outside. It was 7-4 at 0:27. Greece was not finished yet, gathering a penalty foul and converting via Maria Myriokefalitaki with nine seconds left on the clock. Greece commanded the first half and deserved the 8-4 advantage.
Vasiliki Plevritou scored from the left into the bottom left for 9-4 at 6:58 in the third period. It was not until 3:21 that Hungarian captain Rita Keszthelyi managed to score her first of the match and 19th of the tournament with a magnificent backhand from outside the right post. Dorottya Szilagyi fired in another a minute later for 9-6 and the Greek coach challenged, and lost. Soon after the Hungarian head coach threw in his flag for a possible violent action. It was also rejected. Both coaches had lost their challenges. That was 2:11 and while shots were on target, they did not cross the line. With the clock almost hitting zero, Greece gained a foul 10m out and Stefania Santa scored her 16th and most important goal from a six-metre foul and scored with the clock on 0:01 and the buzzer sounding. Greece was 10-6 ahead.
Early in the fourth quarter, Hungary called a timeout but the subsequent shot found “The Wall” and two Greek players raced off on counter with Santa gaining the last pass for 11-6. It happened again at 6:16 when Tricha, the best scorer in Singapore, received the pass for 12-6. Hungary replied immediately when Panna Tiba buried the ball quickly from bottom left on action. Greece had the next counter blocked by Hungarian goalkeeper Boglarka Neszmely, point blank. Greece went on another attack and seemingly lost the ball but gained an ejection and took a timeout at 3:41 with a five-goal advantage. Nothing happened of consequence until a minute later when Hungary scored on extra through Tiba from the bottom right. Kata Hajdu did the same at 1:04 for 12-9 but it was too late. Greeke had the title in the kit bag.
Match Heroes
Tricha (25) and Xenaki (12) with five goals each, Santa (17) and Vasiliki Plevritou (16) with two each. Maria Myriokefalitaki scored once for 15. The real hero was goalkeeper Ioanna Stamatopoulou with 14 saves. For Hungary, Panna and Hajdu scored two each tonight. Keszthelyi was restricted to one goal for 19 in Singapore. Valyi scored 13. Goalkeeper Neszmely made 13 saves.
Turning Point
Turning 3-1 at quarter time into 8-4 at halftime.
Stats Don’t Lie
Greece won this match on extra-player attack converting five from eight while denying Hungary 10 of its 11 chances. Greece made all three penalty shots, stole the ball five to three and only needed 36 shots to 37.
Bottom Line
Greece is the form team of the year., winning two of the big three this year — the World Cup and the World Championship.
Editor’s Note: Alessia FERRARI (ITA) who blew one side of the pool tonight, also officiated this match two years ago in Fukuoka.
What He Said
Haris PAVLIDIS (GRE) — Head Coach
On his emotions after winning:
“Relief, happiness. It’s very difficult. It’s my first year. I am there (for) eight months and we won the World Cup and World Championship. I’m very emotional right now. I want to thank my players because without them, nothing can be done. Everything is the players. If they believe in the system, if they believe in the coach, and if they believe in themselves, anything is possible.”
On what’s next:
“I don’t know. Nothing now, only vacation, nothing else.”
Foteini TRICHA (GRE) — Tournament Top Scorer
On winning gold:
“It’s a great feeling. I’m really proud of my team, and of everyone representing my country. We played the best we could. We believed in ourselves, in our team, our system, and that led us to winning the gold.”
On being top scorer with 25 goals:
“This doesn’t matter at all. I really care about the gold more. The goals are an outcome of the system of the team. Everyone’s passing, when the ball comes to me, I only think about what I have to do correctly. If it’s to shoot, then I shoot. It’s an outcome of the system and it’s a team effort. My team-mates are great; they can find me easily.”
On what Greece got right:
“It was our tactics. We prepared a lot for this game. We knew exactly what we’re going to face. This was the key. One more thing – we followed our coach’s directions. Whenever we do that, then the result is the best.”
On backing up the World Cup win with a world title:
“We played really good in this tournament. We deserved this gold. The only thing that I can say is that we have to continue showing this standard. There are many teams that are really good. The championships was really competitive.”
On what she hopes this gold does for Greece:
“I hope it gives motivation to other people to play, to start watching the sport so that it’s more popular. We’re really proud that we represented our country well.”
On the standard of women’s water polo now:
“As the years pass, more teams are becoming better and that’s really good. It makes the sport more competitive and more interesting to watch. It’s really important. Many teams are at a really high level and that’s really important for our sport.”
Eleftheria PLEVRITOU (GRE) — Captain
On being world champion:
“Oh my god. Now, I don’t have words to describe my feelings. I’m so happy. I’m so proud of my team. We made it. I knew from the beginning. I had this feeling. Really, I cannot say anything else. We deserve it. We won the whole game because we are a great team.”
On an early “sign” that Greece would win:
“The first training in the competition pool, there was ‘Greek champions’ (shown on the screen). It was like a sign, and now it says ‘World Champions’. It was the first day that we came to this pool; the tech guy did it. I don’t know, maybe he knew. But for me, this was the sign that we will do it.”
On their loss in the group stage to Hungary (10-9):
“No, no, no, not at all. Not at all. We just thought, we just keep going, keep pushing. It didn’t mean anything. After the quarterfinals, all the games, you don’t even remember that you lost the first game. In this final, we were winning the whole game. We were in front in the score. We were amazing.”
On whether Greece feared losing twice:
“To be honest, I never think like that. Of course, it was a tough game. Hungary is an amazing team, really strong. But I never thought about winning two times or losing two times. Not at all. I didn’t think of that, so no for me, it doesn't mean anything that we lost, or even if we win, we will keep winning all the games.”
On backing up a World Cup win with a world title:
“The final in China also, in the World Cup, was really good for us. We were winning (that) whole game. I knew, and I had the feeling, because my team were ready.
“Today, it was the same. The first game was difficult because it was the premiere. We were more numb. We couldn’t play good, and we lost. But because also, Hungary is a really good team,”
On the team’s strength in defence:
“Everything starts from defence. For me, it’s really important when you play hard and good defence after you have more energy and more power for the offence. For me, it’s really important in every game. And I think we did the same. We played really good defence.”
On goalkeeper Ioanna STAMATOPOULOU (GRE):
“She’s the best goalkeeper in the tournament. She deserves it. Yes, I’m really happy for everybody.”
Sandor CSEH (HUN) — Head Coach
On the match:
“Greece was the better team. Four quarters long, we fought because we wanted to win. But Greece was better and played very simple and very smart in defence. We were a little bit active, we wanted to score too much, but it was not a good game. But the last quarter was very, very nice. I am very satisfied. But here in the final, Greece was the better team.”
On making two finals in a row:
“I’m very happy with a silver medal, but with the final, no.”
Rita KESZTHELYI (HUN) — Captain and Tournament Most Valuable Player
On the result:
“We were not that sharp in the beginning in defence, and we were struggling. We were not that patient in offence. Today, the Greek team were better than us, and they deserve this win.”
On beating Greece in the group stages but losing in the final:
“It’s very difficult to win two times against the same team, and also on the first game, even we could have lost that game, because it was a very close game. It was very like one and one. It could be like both of us could be the winner. Maybe this is what we have to learn from this. How can you beat a team twice in the same competition? Because it's very hard.”
On her emotions:
“I’m not angry. Obviously, I’m sad, but I’m very proud of my team. We did what we could today, and this was the maximum. So, I think we should keep our heads high and be proud of ourselves, but also we have to stay humble and know that we have to work more to step one step forward. Obviously, we are not going to give up. We’ll keep fighting and we just want to win games.”
On the Hungarian men’s and women’s teams making the final:
“It means a lot. We are going to cheer for the boys, and I’m very curious if my theory that beating one team twice in a competition is not easy. If my theory is right, then Hungary will win tomorrow.(Spain beat Hungary 10-9 in round three).”
Classification 3-4
Match 47, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 12 SPAIN 13 (2-4, 2-3, 5-4, 3-2)
Olympic champion Spain collected consecutive bronze medals at World Aquatics Championships level by holding off a talented and youthful USA team determined to create their history. Spain was never headed and had three four-goal advantages in the third period. USA punched back with one-goal deficits three times. This makes up for Spain’s fourth placing in this year’s World Cup and gets it back on a podium since Paris 2024.
Veteran captain Anni Espar started the scoring with trading to 2-2. Daniela Moreno scored the second Spanish goal while for USA, Ryann Neushul scored from deep left and from top left. Ariadna Ruiz and Paula Prats both scored from the top right to give Spain a 4-2 margin at 1:39 that could not be adjusted by the first buzzer. USA head coach Adam Krikorian challenged for a penalty and was successful but Jenna Flynn had her shot saved by Martina Terre. Emma Lineback scored from deep right on a very narrow angle and less than two minutes later Jewel Roemer lobbed from the wide left. Bea Ortiz secured a penalty goal and Krikorian challenged but he was given a yellow card for not challenging before the shot was taken. Espar made it 7-4 from the top left at 0:49, giving Spain a three-goal advantage at the turn.
Espar converted a penalty inside the first minute of the third quarter. Emily Ausmus responded off a cross pass to centre forward. Carlota Penalver, Spain’s youngest player, scored from the top; Ausmus buried a shot from very-deep left; only for Espar to gain her fourth, shooting down the line from the top left. Ausmus converted extra after a USA timeout but a minute later Paula Crespi converted extra. Left-hander Lineback easily ripped in a shot from deep right off a cross pass at 1:38 on extra and a minute later repeated the shot from slightly further out for 11-9 behind before the final break. She added a another at the top of the fourth period on extra from the deep right position.
Paula Camus turned at centre forward to take Spain back to two goals ahead. Roemer trimmed it again on extra and Ortiz buried the ball on extra from the top right for 13-11 at 3:01. Lineback scored from the deep right again, on extra after a VAR review of an earlier shot being rejected. It was Lineback’s fifth of the match and 14th in Singapore. Spain missed its chance and USA went to a timeout and could not get a foul or a shot away. Spain stole the ball and played it around until the final buzzer, winning the bronze medal.
Match Heroes
Espar with four goals, pushing her to 10 for the tournament. Ortiz scored two for 12 and Elena Ruiz was kept scoreless from seven attempts for 14 overall. Martina Terre made 10 saves tonight. For USA, Lineback blasted five for 14 and Ausmus three for 17. Neushul (11) and Roemer (9) scored two each. Amanda Longan dragged down eight in goal.
Turning Point
That opening Spanish goal meant the team was never headed.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain converted four from eight on extra, defended seven of 16; scored two from two on penalty and defended one of two; lost the steals 9-5 but out-shot USA 33-29.
Bottom Line
Spain had the older, more experienced team while USA had youngsters who don’t know how good they are. They should go home with heads held high and heaven help world water polo as this team matures.
What They Said
Anni ESPAR (ESP) — Captain
On the match:
“There were (nerves) the whole game. America (USA) played a great game, but we were able to perform really good, and we were able to control the game, even when things weren't working as well as in the beginning. But we're very excited with the performance of the team.”
On Spain’s defence:
“The defence was better today. Maybe at the end we needed to be a little bit more on top of the left-hander that was scoring a lot of goals, so I think that's something we can improve for next time, to be able to recognise what's working for them. But in general terms, the defence was pretty good, much better than Monday.”
On her performance:
“Yes, I'm happy with my performance today. I'm happy with the team's performance. I think it's easy to perform when everyone in the team is pushing and having a good game.”
On taking bronze:
“Obviously you always want to work for gold, and I think this team had the chance to win gold, because we’re a really good team, and if we compare ourselves to the others, I think we could have won. But I also think that it’s sport, and sometimes you don’t always perform at your best, and we’re very happy with the bronze. It’s also a good way to learn, and now we can keep improving.”
On its first tournament of the Olympic cycle:
“It’s always hard after having some changes in the team and having some young players coming in and new stuff and everything, but I think the team has worked really well throughout this whole summer, and I think it’s a good start.”
On the performance overall:
“Throughout the tournament, we can always grow and learn from our mistakes. The team has been able to recognise some of the mistakes and improve, but there is a lot of room for improvement, and for the next tournament, we’re going to work on that.”
Adam KRIKORIAN (USA) — Head Coach
On the match:
“There’s not a game that we play, win or lose, that you think you couldn’t have done something differently. There are plenty of things we could have done differently. Most importantly, I’m just so proud of this team and how much they’ve improved in the last 10 weeks together. Just the effort, the fight they put up.
“Today was looking bleak there for a little bit of time, but we never gave up, we continued to fight and persevered. We didn’t do some things well, took away our defence… 13 goals is a lot to give up, but we were great in moments as well.”
On whether the result is a fall from grace:
“I don’t know – that’s for the media to decide. We did a great job here, to be honest. I wouldn’t say it was grace either. What we were able to accomplish over a long period of time wasn’t grace.
“It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of lessons learnt through that. Processes are going to be really important for this young group and this team is completely different. We have so many new players and so many young players that are experiencing this for the first time, and they have a long way to grow, and need to grow.
“Clearly, we’re not at the level of the best teams in the world right now, but at least we know much better now after this summer where we stand and what we need to work on, and that’s most important.”
On what’s next for the team:
“Do you have any restaurant recommendations? I just need some air conditioning and a bottle of water. Honestly, I’m half joking, but for us, it’s so much about the process for this group. They’re such a young team. I know there’s the World Cup next year, World Championships in 2027, Olympic Games in LA.
“But what’s next is just evaluating who we are and where are both individually and collectively, and then putting a plan together to try to make some improvements. We have a long way to go to climb back up to the top of the mountain, but I’m excited as I know the team’s excited about the challenges.”
Classification 5-6
Match 46, AUSTRALIA 11 NETHERLANDS 13 (2-2, 2-3, 4-4, 3-4)
A murderously long VAR review with 15 seconds remaining marred an otherwise exciting encounter between two class teams playing for fifth. Netherlands was two ahead and it looked like we were getting ready for the gold-medal match but… The referee’s signals looked like semaphore and we were not more enlightened as to what had a happened. However, Australia had a timeout and was called for a turnover. Wow. What a finish that left spectators bewildered.
Netherlands was playing without star shooter Simone van de Kraats who was suspended following a violence foul against Italy on Monday. Both teams were tentative in the first quarter with the Aussie Stingers starting the scoring through Charlize Andrews with an extra-player goal coming at 5:01. Pien Gorter scored from the left and Fleurien Bosveld converted extra. Danijela Jackovich scored her 14th goal of the tournament with a pop shot from centre forward at 2:19. No further goal came despite the opportunities. Australian captain Bronte Halligan converted a penalty chance early in the second quarter and Sienna Green boosted the margin to two, scoring off the right-post position on a cross pass. Bosveld shocked the Stingers with the next two goals on extra and Maartje Keuning did the same at 2:27, giving the Dutch a 5-4 lead at halftime. Alice Williams levelled the score with a bouncer from the bottom left at 6:31 in the third period. Vivian Sevenich on extra off the right-post position and Halligan from the top right, took the score to 6-6. Maxine Schaap lobbed beautifully; Lieke Rogge fired to the lower left post, just sneaking the ball across the line and Noa de Vries converted extra off the near-post pass for 9-6. Williams crashed one in from the top and converted a penalty foul for 9-8 down, 15 seconds from the buzzer. Netherlands went to a timeout but the resulting shot bounced over the crossbar.
Hayley Ballesty bounced in a shot on the first minute of the fourth period for 9-0. Bente Rogge had her shot deflected into goal with Ballesty replying on lob for 10-10. Lieke Rogge received a cross pass to the left side to score and Sevenich weirdly backhanded from deep right as if she was at centre forward. More importantly, it made the score 12-10 to the Dutch at 3:26. Charlize Andrews drove in down the bottom left to score at 1:38 for one goal down. The Dutch lost the ball on extra attack just before the final minute. Jackovich lobbed short; Halligan was ejected and the ball found its way to the right post where Kittylynn Joustra awaited to tap in for 13-11 at 0:15. A long VAR review for a possible violent action was dismissed and the match petered out with Netherlands the winner.
Match Heroes
Bosveld (8) with three, Sevenich (7) with two, Lieke Rogge (18) with two and Joustra (12) with one were the best today for Netherlands. Van de Kraats had 12 for the tournament. For Australia, Williams scored three (18), Halligan two and Charlize Andrews (17) two. Jackovich scored one for 14 and non-scorers today were Tilly Kearns (13) and Abby Andrews (11).
Turning Point
The Dutch coming from 4-2 down to win the match 11-7 from that point.
Stats Don’t Lie
The Dutch were perfect on extra, scoring all eight attempts and holding the Stingers to two from three. Australia slotted both penalty goals. Australia stole eight to five and shot 34-29.
In the bronze-medal encounter, Olympic champion Spain led from the front to beat outgoing world champion United States of America 13-12 after leading by four goals in the third period on several occasions.
In the classification match 5-6, Netherlands outdid Olympic silver medallist Australia 13-11 after being 4-2 behind at one stage.
In the classification 7-8 match, Italy finished a 20-15 winner over Japan, a team that has never finished this high before. Italy was seventh at Doha 2023 as well.
Bottom Line
The Dutch held the edge throughout most of the match while Australia found shooting difficult at times. Defence worked well for both teams but on extra, Netherlands was supreme.
What They Said
Fleurien BOSVELD (NED), Player of the Match
On Netherlands’ performance:
“The last two (classification) games, you don’t want to play. You always want to play for the medals, of course, but we did good as a team. We can be proud of the last two games that we played pretty good. We keep on going, and we always want to win.”
On playing well in player-up opportunities:
“If you play a good man up, then the game will be easy, so we did a good job.”
On her experience in her debut World Aquatics Championships:
“It's nice to play these kinds of matches. There’s always pressure, but I think it's nice to get it.”
On what’s next:
“The next is the European Championship in January. Now, we go for vacation, then we go to our club and then we come back together and we prepare for the European Championship.”
Bec RIPPON (AUS) — Head Coach
On whether it was hard to show up today:
“It’been a tough few days, we’ll acknowledge that, but we talk about not just medals, but how we represent ourselves, how we represent our country, and who we want to be for the people back home watching, and how we want to make them proud. That part’s easy to do, but it’s always tough when you’ve missed out on what you came here for.
“We discussed it, acknowledging that it’s that, that pressure is there. But that’s noise to us, and that’s external things, and we just try to focus on ourselves. The team is here for big results. They want to challenge for medals every day. So, whether we were silver medallists in Paris or not, we were coming here to try and challenge ourselves for a place on the podium.
“We put that on ourselves, and we’re happy to own that. But it’s rebuilding. We’ve got experience. We’ve got young players, and there’s a lot to take away and learn from this.”
On a long VAR review in the final 30 seconds:
“That really just delayed the game. I don't think it would have changed the game. We had opportunities to score earlier – that probably would have been our moments. And defensively, we were a little bit passive at moments, and that’s probably what cost us the game.”
On losing momentum while trying to score in the last seconds due to the wait:
“At that stage that we were two goals down, and there were only 15 seconds left, so we knew it was going to be a really tough ask, but what we asked for was to try for one more and see if we could score on our last attack. We decided, why not go for it? And we ended up losing the ball. But yeah, it does slow the game right at the end, but it was pretty out of reach. But we’re never going to give up.”
On what she wants the team to take away from Singapore 2025:
“We came here with goals, goals outside of medals – how we want to represent ourselves, how we want to turn up, and how we play to our Stingers values. If we can review that and see that we’ve done that, then that’s the thing we want to walk away proud of.
“Results, you can’t control every moment of it. And if we only base it on that, then it’s really hard to handle. If we can review and see that we really gave absolutely everything, and that’s just where we are right now. We have to be able to hold our heads high.”
Classification 7-8
Match 45, JAPAN 15 ITALY 20 (5-5, 2-5, 2-6, 6-4)
Italy retained its seventh placing at this level, just two editions after finishing with the bronze medal. The team is youthful and led by some old heads, so it looks good for the future. Japan had ups and downs and, except for the first four minutes, kept pace with Italy until the end.
Italy shot out of the blocks with the first five goals in a masterly start that had captain Agnese Cocchiere, a high performer at this tournament, scoring twice for her 16th and 17th goals in Singapore. Lucrezia Cergol began a fantastic run that had her scoring five goals in the half to double her score at the tournament. She lobbed with both the first from wide and the second on counter-attack by 4:02. Japan stepped up and rammed home the next five goals, incredibly, with Hikaru Shitara countering; Yumi Arima scoring a penalty for her 22nd in total; Shoka Fukuda on counter; Akari Inaba and Eruna Ura on extra had it 5-5 with less than a second remaining. The cross pass to centre forward in the dying second was particularly sobering. Cergol opened the second quarter with Fukuda countering with a penalty shot. Cergol cross-caged on extra and Veronica Gant with a lob sent Italy 8-6 up. Arima converted extra and the last two goals for Italy came from Cergol with her fifth with a lovely right-handed catch at deep right to score and veteran Roberta Bianconi drilling from well outside to beat the buzzer and have Italy 10-7 ahead.
Maho Kobayashi opened the third period for 10-8 but the joy of closing the gap to two was short-lived as Italy scored four straight with Bianconi netting twice for her 15th and 16th goals. Kako Kawaguchi converted extra but Sofia Giustini struck twice for 16-9 by 0:16 — a huge seven-goal lead. Kawaguchi began a four-goal trade with Cocchiere and Bianconi adding to their tallies for 18-11. Japan then slid home three goals with Kawaguchi claiming her third from the penalty line. Cocchiere pushed in a rebounded ball at 3:03 and at 1:37, she picked up a rebound and scored from deep left for 20-14 — her fifth of the match and her 20th goal in total. Fukuda finished the scoring from the left side, even though a counter-attack was later rejected as the buzzer sounded.
Match Heroes
Cocchiere (20) and Cergol (10) scored five each, Bianconi (18) four and Giustini (17) three for Italy. Chiara Ranalli, who scored 21 goals, did not play today as she received seven stitches to the face after Monday’s clash with Netherlands. Japan’s Fukuda (9) topped the scoring with three and pairs were recorded by Arima (23), Kawaguchi (17), Kobayashi (14), Ura (16) and Inaba (5).
Turning Point
The first five goals gave Italy stability and from there it was an even match..
Stats Don’t Lie
Italy converted four from seven on extra and defended six from 11. Italy converted both penalty fouls and stopped one of four. Japan won the steals 9-9 and Italy out-shot Japan 36-32.
Bottom Line
Italy has been the medal dais on six occasions and played three finals. Japan has yet to taste that glory.
What They Said
Lucrezia CERGOL (ITA) — Player of the Match
On Italy’s showing at Singapore 2025:
“We grew a lot. This is a new team, we have a few Olympians in our team and we are all young. We are going to improve ourselves both in water polo and outside. I’m happy. We grew up a lot and we will be a good team that will win something in the future.”
On her showing:
“I scored a lot but it was my team that allowed it to happen – team play. So, I’m happy right now for my performance and that my team won this game. We had to take seventh place for us and for all of the people that worked with us.”
On what’s next for the team:
“We have the European Championship at the end of January. We have a few days to stop and relax. After that, we will get back to training and get stronger.”
Eruna URA (JPN) — Two Goals
On the match:
“We did our best, but it was not enough. I think I can do more. On my own performance, I’m not enough. I have to practise more and I know. I have to do the little things more. I don’t know when or what will happen in the next tournament, but I will fix it. We will fix it and have a better performance.”
On Japan’s historic campaign:
“We didn’t have a good first game. But we continued going again and again, and we fixed more things. This final day was also not good, but we fixed something and we got better. We did our best. We’re younger, so we need to have more practice and be more aggressive to try and get the win. We have good passion because we got a good result for Japan.”