Women’s Water Polo 4x4 debuts in Dubrovnik with eight women’s teams contesting the seven-day event in the Old Town Harbour from Monday.
Overview
The evolution of the sport, like basketball, cricket and others, means finding new ways to attract people and players in easier venues, leads us to this style of competition. This variant has been played worldwide in “scratch” matches and training sessions where fewer people can be involved for many years. By bringing it to the world stage, World Aquatics hopes that it expands the sport into regions that have had little or no water polo.
The Competition
The competition will consist of a league phase/preliminary phase, establishing the rankings, followed by a knockout and classification phase.
The eight teams will play over three competition days after which they will be seeded. They will then be placed in two pots and play two matches against the other pot and one match against its own pot, moving into the knockout and classification stages.
Initial Draw Groupings
Pot A: United States of America, Spain, Greece, Australia.
Pot B: Russia, Croatia, South Africa, Turkiye.
The draw was made last night and the schedule determined.
The Rules
All teams shall consist of eight players with four players in the pool at any stage — three field players and a goalkeeper. Four sets of play are available but the first to win three sets shall be designated the winner, negating the need for a fourth set. Shall the sets be squared at 2-2, then a shootout will follow to decide the victor.
The speed of the match comes from goalkeepers restarting play after a goal has been scored while normal rules for flying substitutions add to the velocity of the game.
Add to the size of the pool — 15m long by 12m wide — and the ability to score many quick goals, makes for attractive water polo.
History
In Gwangju, South Korea in 2019, the inaugural FINA Beach Water Polo World Championships were staged, showcasing what was possible in a confined space. This competition has evolved from that and hopefully will become another important competition in the water polo calendar.
Leading Players
Many teams have turned up with senior international players, some of whom have contested the World Aquatics World Cup or the U18 Championships this year.
Australia: Olivia Mitchell, Phillipa Pedley, Saskia Dunn.
Croatia: Ria Glas, Neli Jankovic.
Spain: Mariona Terre, Ariadna Ruiz, Carlota Penalver, Isabel Piralkova, Paula Camus.
Greece: Anastasia Bikou, Eirini Stavridou.
South Africa: Boati Motau.
Russia: Mariia Makarova, Ekaterina Prokofyeva, Olga Lupinogina, Margarita Pystina.
Turkiye: Elvira Yermakova.
United States of America: Rachel Fattal, Jenna Flynn, Jordan Raney, Ryann Neushul, Jewel Roemer.
Day 1 Schedule
12:20, South Africa v Russia
14:00, Spain v United States of America
15:40, Greece v Australia
17:20, Croatia v Turkiye