Written by: Russell McKinnon, FINA
Media Committee Member
Netherlands defeated Olympic silver
medallist Spain 12-11 in the final of the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League
European qualifying finals at Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Spain today. The match was
tied on no fewer than nine occasions with the winner coming at 2:40 before full
time. Italy upset Hungary 10-9 after being two down three minutes into the last
quarter, securing third position and Greece fought off France 15-10 for fifth
classification.
TENERIFE, SPAIN —The final day of the
competition was a non-event when it came to deciding who would go to the FINA
Women's Water Polo World League Super Final later this year, but it was all
about pride as some of the world’s leading nations went head to head. The fact
that the Dutch overcame Spain and Italy upset Hungary was all in a day’s work
for these superb athletes.
Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Hungary
are the qualifiers for the Super Final and their progress via the FINA World
Championships in June-July will be closely watched.
SPAIN 11 NETHERLANDS 12 — 1St-2ND CLASSIFICATION
The Netherlands beat Hungary with a
front-setting victory, only allowing the Olympic bronze medallist four minutes
in the lead and that was all over by midway in the third period. Nine times the
teams levelled with the Netherlands only having to tie the match twice to
Spain’s seven.
The Dutch-led 3-2 at the quarter, 6-5
at halftime and it was 9-9 at the final break. The Dutch went ahead three times
and the final goal came via Sabrina van der Sloot 2:40 from time. Spain had a
double-exclusion advantage but could not convert at the two-minute mark.
Match heroes
Van der Sloot scored twice in the
closing quarter and secured the winner, but the whole team deserves
recognition. Bente Rogge scored three goals in the first half but found herself
on the end of a red card for the over-zealous defence at 1:47 in the third
period. Bea Ortiz was again on the song for Spain with four goals, the last
three all equalisers in the second half, including the 4:23 effort for 11-11.
Team-mates Paula Leiton with three and Anna Espar with two also kept Spain in
the picture.
Turning point
The Dutch came back from 2-0 down to
lead the first quarter; Leiton’s second heralded a 7-6 lead for Spain at 4:10
in the third and van der Sloot’s winner were all changes in the match.
Stats don’t lie
The Netherlands forged the victory on
the extra-man-attack count with a powerful seven from 13 attempts compared to
Spain’s two from seven.
Bottom line
No reputation will withstand a
fired-up opposition and Netherlands showed today that it is one of the
classiest teams on the planet. Spain rallied from 8-2 down against Hungary on
Saturday, but it could not repeat the epic effort two days running, despite the
parochial crowd.
HUNGARY 9 ITALY 10 — 3RD-4TH
CLASSIFICIATION
It might not have been a world
championship match, and it might not have mattered in the greater scheme of
things, but it was a clash between close neighbours and tight rivals in the
water polo world.
The Hungarian Olympic bronze
medallists played second fiddle to Italy who led 2-1 before tying the first
quarter 2-2; raced to 5-3 by halftime and 6-3 in the third period before
Hungary made amends for some poor attacking by sending in four straight for the
7-6 advantage at 2:21.
Legendary veteran Roberta Bianconi
(32) scored the equaliser with her second goal for 7-7 at the last break.
Hungary looked the goods with two quick goals in the fourth, only to die and
allow Italy to score the last three for victory.
Match heroes
Bianconi’s two goals — one for the
5-3 margin and then the equaliser — made her the rock. Dafne Bettini,
unheralded on the international scene before Tenerife, made her mark with two
goals and centre forward Valeria Palmieri claimed another two. Hungary’s Natasa
Rybanska and Dorottya Szilagyi both scored twice.
Turning points
Szilagyi’s consecutive goals from the
left side drew Hungary's level and then took her team ahead in the third period
after a dominating Italian effort. Bettini then spurred Italy to three straight
goals with the Palmieri winner on extra from the right-post position in the
dying stages.
Stats don’t lie
In this case, it was fairly even,
like the match, when it came to extra-man attack. Italy sent in five from 12
and Hungary five from 13.
Bottom line
Hungary should have outplayed Italy.
However, it didn’t and Italy claimed early bragging rights heading into
Budapest 2022. Italy was tidier on the attack with fantastic passing sequences,
zeroing in on the best shooting options.
FRANCE 10 GREECE 15 — 5TH & 6TH
CLASSIFICATION
Greece2
Greece shrugged off France for the
fifth-placed classification — not a position it wished to fill on day one of
the finals. Greece was lacklustre but controlled the match after a 5-2 opening
quarter, increased only by one goal at halftime. The third period came alight
as France pressured Greece all over the pool and added spice with four goals to
Greece’s five — 11-7. Greece withstood the final French charge and closed the
match as a comfortable five-goal victor.
Match heroes
Greek centre forward Eleni Xenaki was
an unstoppable force with the first two goals of the match, the only goal of
the second and another in the fourth, all from two metres. Louise Guillet
(above) led her team by example with four goals, the first from deep right; the
second from penalty; the third with a big slider from the top left and the
fourth from the left in the fourth.
Turning point
The opening two-goal burst did the
early damage and at 7-2 soon after the start of the third quarter, the match
was dead as a spectacle. With Greece at 11-6 two minutes from the final break,
the result was beyond doubt, but France regrouped and two Ema Vernoux goals and
a fourth from Guillet had the match nicely poised at 11-9 with 6:26 left on the
clock. However, a fifth Xenaki turn at two metres had the match Greece’s way at
12-9 and Greece’s younger players nailed the final three goals.
Stats don’t lie
Greece had the better of the
extra-man-attack statistics with five conversions from nine attempts. France
managed just four of 12 attempts.
Greece1
Bottom line
Greece was the better team on paper,
the more experienced and it had to work against a French team delighting with
10 goals and defiance written all over its faces. Greece needs to re-focus for
the FINA World Championships and for France it is another step closer to Paris
2024.
