Written by: World Aquatics Water Polo
Correspondent Russell McKinnon
Spain has qualified through to the
June World Aquatics World Cup finals series following play on the opening day
of the second round of the Division I competition in Athens on Wednesday. Spain
held off a desperate Australia 9-8 by stopping a penalty shot in the last
minute and Greece came back from 6-2 down to defeat China 13-11, leaving both
China and Australia winless after four matches. In Group 1 where all teams have
qualified, Netherlands trounced Italy 16-10 and United States of America held
out Hungary 10-8.
Group 1
Netherlands 16 Italy 10
Netherlands turned a tight opening
period into a 4-2 lead at the first break and 9-4 at halftime. The margin moved
to 13-7 at the final break and 16-7 before Italy scored a triple in the final
three minutes to make double figures.
The top-tier teams are playing for
pride, experience and final rankings of the Division I competition and
Netherlands is out to maintain its unbeaten run by playing superb water polo,
utilising all its players to excellent effect. Italy had no answers today.
Match heroes:
Simone van de Kraats (above) and
Lieke Rogge, were in the goals for Netherlands with four apiece, with van de
Kraats’ coming from when the team was 6-2 ahead until 13-6 in the middle two
quarters. Lieke Rogge nailed a penalty goal among her four, including two from
outside with one a lob. Younger sister Bente Rogge scored twice in the opening
quarter. Dafne Bettini scored three for Italy, including one of the penalties.
Turning point:
The five-goal progression from 2-2 to
7-2 that broke the back of the Italians and which it could not redress.
Stats don’t lie:
Netherlands showed its ruthless side
with a withering seven from 10 conversions on extra-man attack while Italy sent
in four from eight. Italy made the most of the penalties with three from three
and the Dutch one from one. Netherlands had one more shot on goal than Italy.
Bottom line:
Netherlands is the form team of the
year with all athletes firing on all cylinders. Head coach Eve Doudesis (above)
has the team primed and popping and its final two matches against Hungary
(Thursday) — whom it beat by one goal in Rotterdam last week — and United
States of America (Friday) are eagerly awaited.
United States of America 10 Hungary 8
Reigning champion USA had a stutter
start as Hungary went ahead twice, starting with a Rebecca Parkes
centre-forward strike, but, once in the lead, USA took the match in hand and
settled into winning mode. It was no easy task, though, as Hungary closed the
gap to 6-6 at 3:17 in the third period, offering plenty of hope. But, it was
not to be.
USA had the quarter-time lead at 3-2,
went to 4-2 and 5-3 by 5:09 in the second. There were no goals for the rest of
the period, such was the defence. USA captain Maggie Steffens opened the second
half with a score on extra from the top. However, Hungary scored three action
goals in two and a half minutes to reshape the landscape and make USA respond,
which it did. Youngster Emily Ausmus scored from the right with a minute left
in the period.
Tara Prentice slotted a neat
centre-forward goal to open the fourth and Jordan Raney netted her second on extra
for 9-6. Ausmus scored from the same position for 9-7 at 1:48 — the match
sealer — and Dora Leimeter, so devastating from the deep right, scored her
second for Hungary, but at 0:11 left on the clock, too late to make a
difference.
Match heroes:
USA goalkeeper Amanda Longan was
named best in pool with 10 saves. It could have gone, also, to Hungarian keeper
Alda Magyari, who stopped 10 shots as well. This was a match where defence was
key to the scoreline. Hungary’s Greta Gurisatti was the highest scorer with
three goals.
Turning point:
The 5-1 margin for USA straddling the
first break and then the three-goal compilation either side of the final break.
Hungary’s three-goal showing to level at six was also impressive.
Stats don’t lie:
USA claimed victory with a better
extra-man count and how impressive was six from eight? Hungary could only
manage one from seven. That was the result of the match right there. USA had
four less shots, but that did not seem to matter. Hungary converted the only
penalty foul.
Bottom line:
Two of the top three teams in the
world and there is little margin for error. On extra-man attack, USA blew
Hungary out of the water. We will see more of these two teams in action against
each other before the northern summer ends, we hope.
Group 2
Spain 9 Australia 8
Such is the cut-throat nature of this
tournament, two teams needed to qualify and it came down to the opening day of
the second round when Australia and China had to win decisively to make the
finals. By losing, the Aussie Stingers need to beat both Greece (by more than
three goals as Australia lost to Greece by three goals in Rotterdam) and China
to hope to make the final and head off Greece. The Stingers made a point that
they could win the match and were worthy of the finals. However, the 4-3
advantage in the second spell could not be sustained and Spain slipped home to
qualify instead.
Spain ripped through the first seven
minutes at 3-0, giving up a goal in the last three seconds. The Stingers built
on that Charlize Andrews centre-forward goal and converted three extra-man
situations for the 4-3 margin by 5:25 in the second quarter. What a blitz!
Spain quickly had the match back in its favour with Elena Ruiz converting
Spain’s third penalty and Bea Ortiz grabbing her third from the top. It was
left to Aussie skipper Zoe Arancini to level at five on extra, 17 seconds from
the halftime buzzer.
A second three-goal surge by Spain
ensured an 8-5 lead in the first four minutes of the third quarter, Australia
responding with a pair —both on counter — to close the period at 8-7 in Spain’s
advantage. Goals were swapped in the middle of the fourth and the only
opportunity that could have made a difference was Bronte Halligan’s penalty
attempt that was swatted away by goalkeeper Martina Terre, who was named player
of the match.
The standard of the match was high
and it proves that teams at this level are so close.
Match heroes:
Terre (above) made nine saves, none
more important than the penalty stop to win the match. Ortiz was remarkable
with her five goals — two from penalty, one on counter, one from the top and
another on extra-man attack.
Turning point:
Spain’s first three; Australia’s
four-goal haul to snare the lead; Spain’s three goals to break the 5-5 deadlock
and then maintaining the lead.
Stats don’t lie:
Spain converted two from five on
extra-man attack and Australia a healthy five from 10. Spain’s three penalty
goals and Australia’s miss proved critical in the final analysis.
Bottom line:
Spain is the World Aquatics World
League champion and No 2 in the world, so this match was exciting for both
teams. Australia proved it is improving with every match and the next two
encounters are vital.
Greece 13 China 11
Greece had a point to prove that it
should have been in the top four after Rotterdam the previous week. China was
out to prove that it could be more than a one or two-quarter team. Today,
China, bristling for victory and any shot at making the finals, produced its
best showing of the series, racing to an amazing 6-2 advantage two minutes into
the second quarter. This came from the fulcrum of a 3 https://www.worldaquatics.com/athletes?gender=&discipline=&nationality=&name=Maria%20Myriokefalitaki-0
start that had the Greeks stunned.
From 4-2 at the quarter, it was still
7-4 in China’s favour by halftime. China went to 8-5 and 9-7 as Greece was
homing in. A pair of Greek goals with the first from Nikoleta Eleftheriadou —
her fifth —levelled the match for the first time. Greek centre forward Eleni
Xenaki tipped in an angled-pass for 9-9.
Greece went ahead twice, only for
China to come back — something it found hard to do in Rotterdam in the second
halves — to have the match in the balance at 3:50. A quick counter had Maria
Myriokefalitaki scoring for 12-11 and Foteina Tricha made sure of victory with
her left-hand-catch shot with a minute remaining.
Match heroes:
Eleftheriadou was named player of the
match with her five goals, four coming from the deep-left position and the
other from the top. Siya Yan was the best for China with three goals, including
two in the opening onslaught.
Turning point:
The opening 3-0 procession and
another three unanswered goals for 6-2 were sublime for China. However, Greece
turned the match with three goals over the final break, proving that experience
can earn a result.
Stats don’t lie:
China was the better on extra,
converting four from seven and blocking both Greece’s slim opportunities.
Greece shot 33 times to China’s 25 — a telling statistic. Greece converted the
only penalty awarded.
Bottom line:
Greece is the more experienced team
and should have won while China is getting better at an exponential level that
could have repercussions in the coming 16 months.
Progress Points
Group 1: Netherlands 12, USA 10,
Hungary 6, Italy 6.
Group 2: Spain 8, Greece 6, Australia
0, China 0.
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