Coverage of the 2015 FINA World Championships is sponsored by Wylas Timing. Visit our coverage page for more.
The opening day of the women’s water polo tournament at the 2015 FINA World Championship saw two fantastic fights, decided by a single goal: Australia edged out Greece and China staged an amazing finish against Hungary. The rest of the contests were rather one-sided.
Game 8, Group D: Hungary vs. China 8-9 (1-4, 4-1, 2-1, 1-3)
Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Nenad Peris (CRO)
HUNGARY: Flora Bolonyai, Dora Czigany 1, Dora Antal 2, Dora Kisteleki 1, Gabriella Szucs 1, Orsolya Takacs 1, Anna Illes, Rita Keszthelyi 1, Ildiko Toth 1, Barbara Bujka, Krisztina Garda, Kata Menczinger, Edina Gangl. Head coach: Andras Meresz
CHINA: Yang Jun, Tian Jianing, Mei Xiaohan, Xiong Dunhan, Sun Yating, Song Donglun 2, Zhang Cong, Zhao Zihan 4, Zhang Weiwei, Wang Xinyan 2, Zhang Jing 1, Peng Lin. Head coach: Rick Azevedo
Extramen:
Hungary: 1 for 3
China: 3 for 10
Penalties:
Hungary: 2 for 2
China: 1 for 2
Just twenty days ago these two sides clashed in a friendly where the Hungarians, playing at home, were superiors in the entire game and won 11-5. Then they led 5-1 after eight minutes. This time only a missed penalty prevented the Chinese from gaining a 5-1 lead. But they staged a really strong opening period, with two quick man-up goals, a converted penalty and another one from a 6 on 5 put them well ahead (1-4). In the second they had another man-up for a 1-5 lead but couldn’t create any chance and that cost them a lot. The Hungarians started to find their rhythm both in defence and in attack and with three connecting action goals they levelled the score with 2:40 to go in the second. The closing minute before the middle break was eventful, the Chinese made good use of a Hungarian error in the back but the Hungarians equalised again from a penalty, called just before the buzzer went off.
In the third the Hungarians took the lead for the first time but the Chinese could level the score from a counter – however, their 6 on 5 didn’t click as well as in the first period, missed three in a row. And again, the Hungarians scored in the very last second, courtesy of Dora Czigany’s sneaking shot from six metres for a 7-6 lead.
And amidst tremendous fight it was doubled through a smart man-up play with five minutes remaining on the clock. But the two-goal lead disappeared quickly after Song Donglun’s fine one-timer and Zhao Zihan’s nice lob. First the Chinese then the Hungarians missed a 6 on 5, then Zihan noticed that the Hungarian goalie moved out to look for a possible centre feed and his 12m lob went in with 39 seconds remaining – and this turned out to be a spectacular game-winner.
Andras Meresz, head coach (HUN)
“Even though the number of exclusions showed a huge difference, I wanted the girls to stick to our hard pressing game till the end. However, they got a bit tired towards the end and didn’t mark the Chinese best shooter than forgot to press before the first lob. The second one came out of the blue, however losing a game by conceding a lob almost from the half-way mark is part of women’s water polo.”
Rick Azevedo, head coach (CHN)
“The two teams trained together a lot in the summer, we know each other, we are really aware of what to expect in the various situations. Today we scored a couple of goals in the beginning while the Hungarians didn’t score from chance they used to. They came back, though, but at the end my young leftie’s smart lobs brought as a great win.”
Italy downs Japan in two periods
Game 6, Group C: Japan vs. Italy 3-15 (0-5, 1-3, 2-2, 0-5)
Referees: Francesc Buch (ESP), Mark Koganov (AZE)
JAPAN: Rikako Miura, Chiaki Sakanoue 1, Yuri Kazama 1, Shino Magariyama, Moe Nakata, Ayaka Takahashi, Yumi Nakano, Mitsuki Hashiguchi, Kana Hosoya, Tsubasa Mori 1, Marina Tokumoto, Kotori Suzuki, Yuko Umeda. Head coach: Hideo Katoh
ITALY: Giulia Gorlero, Chiara Tabani 3, Arianna Garibotti 3, Elisa Queirolo 2, Federica Radicchi, Rosarie Aiello 1, Tania di Mario 1, Roberta Bianconi 2, Giulia Emmolo 1, Francesca Pomeri, Laura Barzon 2, Teresa Frassinetti, Laura Teani. Head coach: Fabio Conti
Extramen:
Japan: 0 for 3
Italy: 4 for 4
Penalties:
Japan: 0 for 2
Italy: 1 for 1
Just as in the other games today played between a big gun and a weaker side, two periods were enough to decide the outcome. The Italians put away two 6 on 5s in two minutes and after Giulia Gorlero stopped a penalty they rushed away: three goals in 2:38 minutes gave them a 0-5 lead. Soon they went 1-8 up by half-time and got some relaxing moments in the third which saw two goals apiece. Then they geared up once more and produced another 0-5 downing in the last eight minutes.
Russia stages a great start
Game 7, Group D: Russia vs. France 16-5 (5-1, 3-2, 4-1, 4-1)
Referees: Peter De Jong (NED), Stephane Roy (CAN)
RUSSIA: Anastasia Verkhoglyadova, Tatiana Zubkova 1, Ekaterina Prokofyeva 3, Elvina Karimova 3, Ekaterina Zubacheva 1, Anastasia Simanovich 1, Ekaterina Lisunova 2, Evgeniia Abdriziakova, Anna Timofeeva 1, Ekaterina Tankeeva, Evgeniya Ivanova 2, Nadezhda Iarondaikina 2, Anna Karnaukh. Head coach: Mikhail Nakoryakov
FRANCE: Lorene Derenty, Estelle Millot 1, Lea Bachelier, Aurore Sacre, Louise Guillet 3, Geraldine Mahieu, Marie Barbieux, Marion Tardy 1, Lucie Cesca, Sonia Bouloukbachi, Yaelle Deschampt, Michaela Jaskova, Morgane Chabrier. Head coach: Filippos Sakelli
Extramen:
Russia: 1 for 8
France: 0 for 5
Penalties:
Russia: 1 for 1
France: none
Russia did a clean job, to the joy of the spectators. It was almost capacity crowd in the Water Polo Arena and the host team guaranteed not only the satisfaction but the entertainment as well. With their sparkling attacking game they quickly broke the French side: it was a fine variety of fast counters, position game and swiftly created 6 on 5s. Of course, sometimes the system didn’t work absolutely properly but on an opening day of a tournament it’s not required at all. What mattered that the Russian win was never in danger as they held a four goals-per period scoring average.
No headaches for the US
Game 5, Group C: Brazil vs. United States 2-13 (0-6, 0-3, 1-2, 1-2)
Referees: Dion Willis (RSA), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
BRAZIL: Tess Oliveira, Diana Abla, Marina Zablith, Mariana Duarte, Lucianne Barroncas, Izabella Chiappini 1, Amanda Oliveira 1, Luiza Carvalho, Melani Dias, Viviane Bahia, Lorena Borges, Gabriela Mantellato, Victoria Chamorro. Head coach: Patrick Oaten
USA: Samantha Hill, Madeline Musselman 1, Melissa Seidemann, Rachel Fattal 2, Maggie Steffens 3, Courtney Mathewson 1, Kiley Neushul 2, Ashley Grossman, Kaleigh Gilchrist 1, Makenzie Fischer 2, Kami Craig 1, Ashleigh Johnson. Head coach: Adam Krikorian.
Extramen:
Brazil: 0 for 5
USA: 3 for 4
Penalties:
Brazil: none
USA: 1 for 1
The Water Polo Arena went wild – though only in the second half of the game when the crowd, getting larger as the Russian’s game commenced, started to cheer for Brazil. Next year’s Olympic hosts found it hard to score against the reigning Olympic champions, they trailed 0-9 at half-time. The US team played really its hard pressing game and was ruthless in attacks, they simply outpowered the Brazilians. However, after 18:04 minutes it happened: the South Americans found the back of the net at 0-11, to the joy of the fans who could happily applaud the second goal later in the fourth. In the meantime the American girls didn’t push the pedal that much, netted only four goals in the second half.
The Dutch hammer strikes hard
Game 4, Group B: South Africa vs. Netherlands 1-22 (1-6, 0-5, 0-3, 0-8)
Referees: German Moller (ARG), Ursula Wengenroth (SUI)
SOUTH AFRICA: Rebecca Thomas, Megan Parkes, Kieren Paley, Ruby Versfield 1, Megan Schooling, Amica Hallendorff, Kimberly Kay, Delaine Christien, Lindsay Killeen, Deborah O’Hanlon, Kelsey White, Alexandre Gascoigne. Head coach: Bradley Rowe
NETHERLANDS: Laura Aarts, Miloushka Smit 3, Dagmar Genee, Chatarina van der Sloot 4, Amarens Genee 1, Nomi Stomphorst, Marloes Nijhuis 2, Vivian Sevenich 2, Maud Megens 1, Isabella van Toorn 1, Lieke Klaassen 6, Leonie van der Molen 2, Debby Willemsz. Head coach: Arno Havenga
Extramen:
South Africa: 0 f 3
Netherlands: 5 for 10
As it was expected, this encounter turned out to be a rather one-sided contest. The only surprise came in the beginning when the South Africans managed to score from the centre as the Dutch goalie, Laura Aarts rushed out to grab the ball but Ruby Versfield could lob it into the empty net. It happened after two minutes – in the remaining 26 only the Dutch scored, in fact, they seemed to be able to net a goal whenever they wanted. Still, some fine defending from the South Africans, especially in the third period kept the Dutch on three goals, however, their superiority did some damage again in the last quarter. Lieke Klaasen came up as the best scorer of the game with a session-high 6 hits.
The Aussies bettered the Greeks in a thrilling finish
Game 3, Group B: Australia vs. Greece 8-7 (2-1, 1-3, 2-1, 3-2)
Referees: Massimiliano Caputi (ITA), Sergey Naumov (RUS)
AUSTRALIA: Lea Yanitsas, Gemma Beadsworth 1, Hannah Buckling 1, Holly Lincoln-Smith, Keesja Gofers, Bronwen Knox, Rowie Webster 1, Glennie McGhie 1, Zoe Arancini 1, Ash Southern, Bronte Halligan, Nicola Zagame 2, Kelsey Wakefield. Head coach: Greg McFadden
GREECE: Eleni Kouvdou, Christina Tsoukala 4, Stefania Charalampidi, Christina Kotsia, Margarita Plevritou, Alkisti Avramidou, Alexandra Asimaki 1, Antigoni Roumpesi 1, Ioanna Charalampidi, Triantafyllia Manolioudaki, Eliftheria Plevritou 1, Eleni Xenaki, Chrysoula Diamantopolou. Head coach: Georgios Morfesis
Extramen:
Australia: 4 for 8
Greece: 1 for 5
Penalties:
Australia: none
Greece: 3 for 4
The Aussies had the better start in the first highlighted game of the opening day. They jumped to a 3-1 lead early in the second period, but two quick goals from the Greeks – both from penalties, courtesy of Alexandra Asimaki’s efforts in the centre – pushed the match to a different direction. The next minutes saw the Australians struggling to create any chance as the Greeks’ zonal defence worked pretty well. Antigoni Roumpesi’s fine shot 28 seconds before the buzzer even put the Greeks ahead by half-time. And their journey continued in the third, another penalty shot at 5:18 gave them a 3-5 lead.
Goddess Fortuna stepped in to help the Aussies, a shot from an extra got a wicked deflection and the ball fell in from the heights. This brought them back to the game, soon they got the equaliser, this time it was a clean finish from another extra by Rowie Webster for 5-5.
The final period was a thriller, the Aussies took the lead three times, the Greek levelled the score twice, at 7-6 Christina Tsoukala’s penalty was saved by Lea Yanitsas, however, after the corner-throw Tsoukala’s fine bouncing shot from the distance found the back of the net for 7-7. With just a minute to go, a great defending move earned the ball for the Aussies in the field and it resulted an easy one-on-one put-away for Nicola Zagame. Greece still had the chance to save a point but they couldn’t set up a clear shooting chance though they had two connecting 6 on 5s in the last 42 seconds.
Greg McFadden, head coach (AUS)
“In the first quarter we played pretty good though were a bit unlucky. In the second we tried to do too much by ourselves, we didn’t play as a team we couldn’t create any good chance as we didn’t leave enough space for our centre-forward. We talked about that in half-time, it’s got a little bit better then but this is in issue we have concentrate on next time
Spain rolls over Kazakhstan in the first half
KAZAKHSTAN: Alexandra Zharkimbayeva, Aruzhan Yegemberdiyeva, Aizhan Akilbayeva 1, Anna Turova, Kamila Zakirova 1, Oxana Tikhonova, Zamira Myrzabekova 1, Oxana Saichuk 1, Darya Muravyeva, Darya Roga, Anastassiya Mirshina 3, Assem Mussarova, Darya Ryzhinskaya. Head coach: Miroslav Trumbic
SPAIN: Laura Ester, Marta Bach, Anna Espar 2, Paula Leiton, Matilde Ortiz, Jennifer Pareja 5, Clara Espar 2, Pilar Pena, Judith Forca, Roser Tarrago 3, Maria Garcia 2, Laura Lopez, Patricia Herrera. Head coach: Miguel Oca
Extraman:
Kazakhstan: 3 for 9
Spain: 2 for 8
Penatlies:
Kazakhstan: none
Spain: 1 for 1
The title-holder Spanish team began its campaign in style, leaving no chance for the Kazakhs to create any hot moment in this sunny morning. With three new members in their line-up (compared to Barcelona 2013), the Spaniards produced their highly effective game at both ends of the pool. In the middle of the second period they were 6-0 up and soon they earned an 8-1 advantage. This was the point where they laid back a bit and started to save energy as the tournament – their campaign to retain their crown – is quite long. The gap they built by half-time (9-2) remained the same at the end as the second half brought five goals apiece. Jennifer Pareja was outstanding in the match, the captain netted 5 goals.
Canada opens its campaign with a dominant performance
Game 1, Group A: Canada vs. New Zealand 15-6 (5-1, 2-3, 4-2, 4-0)
Referees: Fabio Toffoli (BRA), Tadao Tahara (JPN)
CANADA: Jessica Gaudreault, Krystina Alogbo 1, Katrina Monton 1, Emma Wright, Monika Eggens 3, Kelly McKee 1, Joelle Bekhazi 1, Shae Fournier 3, Carmen Eggens 1, Christine Robinson 2, Stephanie Valin 2, Dominique Perreault, Nicola Colterjohn. Head coach: Johanne Begin
NEW ZEALAND: Brooke Millar, Nicole Lewis 1, Sarah Pattison, Danielle Lewis, Simone Lewis, Sarah Landry 1, Miranda Chase, Caitlin Lopes Da Silva, Emma Stoneman, Liana Dance 1, Kirsten Hudson 1, Jasmine Myles 2, Katherine Curnow. Head coach: Attila Biro
Extraman:
Canada: 3 for 6
New Zealand: 3 for 6
Penalties:
Canada: 2 for 2
New Zealand: none
It took 30 seconds to score the first goal of the championships, it was a fine action shot from the centre from Canada’s Christine Robinson – which also signalled the start of the Northern American’s march. A penalty and an extra-player goal followed shortly for a 3-0 lead, New Zealand got on the score-board after 6:42 minutes but in a span of 41 seconds two more action goals virtually settled the game by the end of the first period (5-1).
The New Zealanders had a better period in the second, cutting the margin to three goals at 7-4 and again deep in the third at 8-5, however, the remaining 12 minutes saw a 7-1 thrashing from the Canadians. The winning side posted a fine shooting percentage (15 for 33, 45%) in their opening game, as well as a fine team effort with eight players netting the goals.
The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.
2015 FINA World Championships, Women’s Water Polo: Preliminary Round Day 1 – Results
