Women’s Division II Water Polo Tournament I Russia, China, Croatia, Canada unbeaten

Overview

By going through unbeaten, the top four teams have earned matches against the lower-ranked teams in the top eight, giving them the slight edge ahead of the semifinals. Meanwhile, the seven teams outside the top eight will do battle for the lesser rankings, possibly providing some close encounters.

Match Reports

Match 17. First Round League Phase.
CANADA 15 PORTUGAL 10 (5-5, 2-1, 4-2, 4-2)

Canada, coached by former Greek international Kyriaki Liosi — Olympic silver, World and World League champion —maintained its dominance from the start and shrugged off a petulant Portugal determined to upset the world order. Portugal came back three times to level but could not continue its fine form into the final quarter where Canada made sure of its third victory. This always promised to be a close match with the way Portugal is set to soar up the rankings. Currently, Canada is 13 and Portugal 30 but that will change after this event. However, the experience of Canada gave it the edge, going up by two twice before extending the lead to three at 4-1. Portugal ripped in the next three goals for 4-4, Canada hit back and Maria Machado let fly with her third goal and second penalty conversion for 5-5 at the first break. Marilia Mimides and Kyra Christmas scored twice each for Canada. The second period was tighter with Floranne Carroll and then Emma Lawson, with her second, bringing up 7-5. Lawson had her penalty attempt stopped and Madalena Lousa had some luck with her outside shot being blocked by Canadian captain Emma Wright with the ball looping over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Alexandra Stoddard and into goal for 7-6 before the halftime break. Lawson countered for 8-6 to start the second half with a pair of Portuguese goals levelling the match, the second from Machado on counter. Canada made three in a row with a pair to Nicole O’Neill either side of a Christmas lob. By this stage the two Portuguese goalkeepers had taken in 11 saves and Stoddard eight for Canada. Fernandes converted a penalty to start the fourth quarter, then Christmas went wild, scoring on counter, extra and from the penalty line for six goals and a 15-9 advantage that was trimmed by a late Portuguese strike.

Match Heroes
Christmas with her six goals, Lawson and O’Neill with three apiece. Stoddard finished with 10 saves for Canada. Portugal’s Machado made four goals and could have done more damage if she was not ejected on three fouls four minutes from time. Maria Santos took in nine saves and Mariana Carvalho eight.

Turning Point
Canada not allowing Portugal to take the lead despite levelling at four, five and eight.

Stats Don’t Lie
Canada converted four from nine on extra and stopped five of six Portugal attempts. Canada missed two of three penalty chances while Portugal put away all four. Canada led the steals 4-4 and the shots 43-35.

Match 18. First Round League Phase.
CROATIA 22 MALTA 11 (7-1, 2-1, 7-4, 6-5)

Croatia made it three wins in a row with a powerful start that had Malta stunned. It was going swimming with the first goal for Malta but then Iva Rozic scored twice and five team-mates followed suit as the first break had 7-1 on the scoreboard. Elena Borg stopped the Maltese rot with the first goal of the second quarter, on extra. Glas on extra and Rozic on counter responded midway through while neither side could find a gap in the last three minutes and 30 seconds. By contrast the third period was a goal-fest with 11 coming, lifting Croatia to 16-6. Rozic added three more to her tally and Karla Ruzic scored her first of the tournament with a blast from the top that was slowed down by flying arms, just getting across the line. Francesca Paolella (MLT) was another to score her first, backhanding in from centre forward for 14-5. Earlier, Borg added her second on extra to start the Maltese ball rolling. The flow did not stop in the fourth and the Maltese resistance was strong with Martha Perici scoring four goals, including a penalty strike and a missile from 10m. Aurora Stipanov netted three goals and Rozic gained another two for Croatia.

Match Heroes
Croatia’s Rozic with eight goals to give her 20 from the three matches, followed by captain Glas with four and Stipanov three. Perici was best for Malta while its two goalkeepers amassed 10 saves.

Turning Point
With a 7-1 first quarter, there was no chance of a turning point.

Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia converted three from five on extra and Malta a commendable five from nine. Both teams converted a penalty; Croatia won the steals 4-2 and the overall shots 43-36.

Match 19. First Round League Phase.
CHINA 14 GERMANY 1 (1-1, 4-0, 3-0, 6-0)

China came away with “solid” win after keeping Germany off the scoresheet in the last three periods. Germany led the match for one minute with Elena Ludwig converting extra from the deep left. China responded but it was not until six and a half minutes later that China could take the lead through Nong Sanfeng from the top on extra. China expanded the lead to 5-1 at halftime and to 8-1 at the final break as Xie Liyi scored twice and Yan Siya scored from deep right. Germany hit the post about five times during this stanza and was working hard on defence as the extra-player count shows. Following a Germany timeout with no joy in scoring, Zhang Qishuo scored the goal of the match, slipping across from deep right, entering the goal mouth and slipping the ball in for 9-1. Five more goals came until Zhou Shang closed the scoring with a deft turn at centre forward three seconds from time.

Match Heroes
Xie and Yan scored three each for China and Ludwig the sole German scorer. Darja Heinbichner made nine saves in the German goal.

Turning Point
China keeping Germany scoreless for the last three periods.

Stats Don’t Lie
China made six from 13 on extra and Germany one from eight proving both teams were excellent on player-down defence. China scored the only penalty goal, made eight steals to six and won the shots 32-20.

Match 20. First Round League Phase.
GREAT BRITAIN 17 KAZAKHSTAN 9 (5-2, 4-1, 5-1, 3-5)

Great Britain notched a second victory and earned a clash with Commonwealth rival Canada in the quarterfinals. The win was built on the start, centre forward Toula Falvey’s incredible run and the all-round shooting prowess of the team. Kazakhstan was in the match at 3-2 down in the first quarter but let the difference stretch to three by the first break. Any chance of Kazakhstan winning went out the door after Madina Rakhmanova’s extra-player goal from the right post at the top of the second quarter. Katy Cutler scored twice, once on counter and with a screamer from the top. Falvey closed the half with a centre-forward goal and 9-3. She opened the third with a backhand from four metres and closed the period with a wonderful turn for 14-4. Anastassiya Mirshina on extra and Olga Vorontsova with a penalty strike, gave Kazakhstan a boost. Yuliya Druzhinina gained her second on extra off an excellent cross pass to the bottom right for 14-7. Milly Wordley scored her second penalty goal in a three-goal effort; Falvey muscled her way to a two-metre goal; Viktoriya Kaplun on extra and Vorontsova with a drive to the right post to score made the score 16-9. A Zianna Wright penalty goal sealed the British victory, two seconds from time at 17-9.

Match Heroes
Falvey and Cutler with five goals each and Wordley with three. Madeline Brown made 10 saves in the British goal. Druzhinina, Vorontsova and captain Mirshina made two each for Kazakhstan with the goalkeepers taking in nine saves.

Turning Point
The first three goals meant Kazakhstan was always playing catch-up.

Stats Don’t Lie
Great Britain was perfect on extra with one goal and stopped five of nine Kazakh chances. Britain converted six of seven penalty shots to two for Kazakhstan. The steals went Britain’s way four-two and the shots 31-30.

Match 21. First Round League Phase.
SOUTH AFRICA 5 RUSSIA 27 (2-7, 1-8, 0-7, 2-5)

Russia blasted its way to a third huge victory to finish atop the rankings heading into the quarterfinals where it will clash with Brazil, who had a lay day today. The win was built on speed, counters, slick passing and confident outside shooting. While Great Britain’s Toula Falvey was smashing it at centre forward in the previous match, Vladislava Nechaeva was doing the same in this encounter, finishing with six goals, however, just three from two metres. Russia worked together as a unit to get the score against a defiant South Africa who knew the battle would be volcanic. Nechaeva had a couple in the bag at 3-1 before Catherine Williamson snared her two-metre goal. It became 7-2 at the first break and Nechaeva scored twice more with a turn and a backhand for 9-2. South African captain Shakira January converted a penalty, but it was the last African goal for more than 15 minutes as Russia pulsated and ripped up the water, shooting to 15-3 at halftime and 22-3 at the final break. Hannah Banks collected a cross pass to open the fourth-quarter scoring. Nechaeva scored on extra and from the top as Russia slipped to 26-4. January converted her second penalty foul; Anastassiya Adikova bounced her penalty attempt over the bar and Daria Kliueva stopped all scoring at 27-5 from the top at 1:23. It was never going to be South Africa’s day and it now falls to the round 9-15.

Match Heroes
Nechaeva with a match-high six goals, Marina Kazanina and Adikova with four each and Lupinogina with three. The Russian goalkeepers made nine saves between them. For South Africa, captain January scored twice and the goalkeepers made 10 saves.

Turning Point
Breaking free from 3-2 up to 9-2.

Stats Don’t Lie
Russia needed no extra plays and defended two of five. South Africa made two from three on penalty and Russia missed its sole chance. Russia made the steals at 7-2 and an incredible number of shots at 49-20.

Final Ranking

1. Russia 83
2. China 81.4
3. Croatia 78.6
4. Canada 74.7
5. Great Britain 67.1
6. Portugal 62.7
7. Turkiye 61.4
8. Brazil 56.6
9. Kazakhstan 52.1
10. Malta 48.7
11. Argentina 47.3
12. Germany 36.3
13. Slovakia 36.1
14. Singapore 39.4
15. South Africa 31.9

Day 4 Schedule

Classification 9-16
10:00, Argentina v Singapore
11:30, Germany v Slovakia
Classification 1-8 Quarterfinals
13:00, Russia v Brazil
15:00, China v Turkiye
16:30, Croatia v Portugal
18:00, Canada v Great Britain
Classification 9-16
19:30, Malta v South Africa