UniversalSports.com Daily Coverage, including webcasts
ROME, Italy, July 25. WITH preliminary play complete, water polo moved into the classification rounds at the FINA World Championships. The women were up first as teams vied for final rankings.
In the quarterfinals, the United States downed China, 12-9. Heather Petri and Kelly Rulon each notched a hat trick for the States, which went 12-for-25. Gao Ao shouldered the load for China with five goals, as the team connected on 9 of 28 shots.
In another quarterfinal match, Canada cleared Germany, 13-7. Dominique Perreault paced the Canadians with four goals as the team went 13-for-29. Germany had a balanced attack with Katrin Dierolf and Nina Wengst leading the way with two goals each. Germany converted 7 of 30 shots.
In the following quarterfinal contest, The Netherlands edged New Zealand, 9-7. Mieke Cabout completed a hat trick for The Netherlands as the team went 9-for-30. Kelly Mason and Lynlee Smith tallied two goals each for New Zealand, which went 7-for-23.
In the final quarterfinal matchup of the evening, host Italy fell to Greece, 10-9. Stavroula Antonakou totaled three goals for Greece, which went 10-for-30. Italy had a balanced attack with four players notching two goals each. Overall, the hosts converted 9 of 28 shots.
In the 13th-16th place semifinals, Kazakhstan smashed Uzbekistan, 16-4. Aizhan Akilbayeva tallied five goals, while Marina Gritsenko notched three goals for Kazakhstan. The team converted 16 of 31 shots for a 51.6 percent success rate. Viktoriya Gorodchanina accounted for half of Uzbekistan's goals, as the squad went 4-for-29.
In the other 13th-16th place semifinal, Brazil dismantled South Africa, 16-2. Camila Pedrosa scored six times, while Marina Canetti totaled four goals for Brazil. The Brazilians connected on 16 of 27 shots for a 59.3 percent success rate. Sarah Harris scored both of South Africa's goals, as the team went 2-for-28.