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ROME, Italy, July 27. THE ninth day of water polo continued quarterfinals for women at the FINA World Championships. Additionally, 13th-16th place were decided.
Quarterfinals featured four matches. Canada bettered Hungary, 9-7. Dominique Perreault scored four times for Canada, which went 9-for-29. Gabriella Szucs and Rita Dravucz tallied two goals for Hungary, which converted 7 of 25 shots.
Russia followed with a 9-7 triumph over The Netherlands. Natalia Ryzhova-Alenicheva, Evgenia Soboleva and Evgenia Ivanova each had two goals for Russia. Russia went 9-for-26, while Iefke van Belkum totaled three goals for The Netherlands. The team went 7-for-25 from the field.
Greece clipped Australia, 4-3, in a low-scoring affair. Angeliki Geroimou accounted for all four of Greece's goals, which went 4-for-26. Kate Gynther provided all of Australia's goals as well with three goals, which went 3-for-32.
The U.S. dropped Spain, 9-6, in the final contest of the night. Brittany Hayes tallied a hat trick for the U.S., which went 9-for-27. Blanca Gil and Maica Garcia notched two goals each for Spain, which went 6-for-24.
The semifinals of the 9th-12th place classification rounds took place. Germany downed New Zealand, 8-7, in the first of those contests. Mandy Zollner tallied three goals for Germany, which went 8-for-31. Kristen Hudson also posted a hat trick for New Zealand, which converted 7 of 23 shots.
Italy wiped out China, 9-5, in the other semifinal. Tania di Mario nailed the net four times for Italy, which went 9-for-26. Ma Huanhuan scored two goals for China, which converted 5 of 27 shots.
Brazil edged Kazakhstan, 11-8, in the 13th-14th classification match. Flavia Fernandes and Marina Canetti posted hat tricks for Brazil, which connected on 11 of 36 shots. Natalya Rybachek accounted for two goals, which went 8-for-32.
Uzbekistan smashed South Africa, 16-9, for 15th place as South Africa fell to 16th place. Ramilyn Halikova tallied five goals, while Anna Sheglova notched four goals for Uzbekistan. The squad converted 16 of 24 shots for a 66.7 percent success rate. Lee-Anne Keet and Samantha Keet totaled two goals each for South Africa, which went 9-for-23.