Spain and United States are victorious in a semifinal and will play to become champions after beating Russia and hosts Australia respectively. In the 5-8 semifinals, Italy and Netherlands won so they both will play for 5th while China and Hungary will play to decide who will place seventh.
The United States booked their spot in the final of the Women’s Water Polo World Cup with a 10-6 victory over hosts Australia in a semi-final that swung through several momentum shifts before the Americans pulled clear.
Goals were hard to come by in the early proceedings as both defenses dominated. The deadlock was eventually broken when a great pass set up a USA penalty, which Roemer converted emphatically to open the scoring. The Americans doubled their lead soon after, with Fattal scoring an extra-player goal on their next attacking possession to make it 2-0. Neither side found the back of the net again before the break, and the Americans took a two-goal cushion into the second quarter.
Australia struggled to open their account at the start of the second quarter, and things nearly got worse when Roemer missed a penalty that would have made it 3-0. The hosts made the Americans pay for the miss within seconds, as Sienna Hearn scored Australia’s first goal of the match to make it 2-1.
That strike ignited a frantic passage of scoring. The Americans responded immediately, converting another penalty through Ryann Neushul to restore their two-goal margin at 3-1, before Emily Ausmus stretched the lead to three. Australia refused to fold, clawing back into the contest through goals from Halligan and Hearn to cut the deficit to one at 4-3. USA replied through Roemer to make it 5-3, and after a failed challenge from the Australians over foul play, the hosts struck straight back with a delightful lob finish from Hayley Ballesty. The second quarter closed with USA ahead 5-4.
The third quarter began just as brightly, with Raney and Hauschild combining to give the Americans their second three-goal lead of the match at 7-4. Australia responded quickly through Halligan to make it 7-5, but a superb long-range effort from Jenna Flynn restored the USA’s three-goal buffer at 8-5. A Lineback goal on the counter-attack pushed the lead to 9-5 and prompted an Australian timeout.
Soon after the break, Australia did convert a penalty through Lambert shortly after play resumed to make it 9-6. That was as close as the hosts would get, with the third quarter ending 9-6 to the USA.
The final quarter was a tighter affair, but Australia could not engineer any sort of comeback. The only goal of the period came from the United States, sealing a 10-6 victory that sends them through to the final.
Spain progressed to the final against the USA in Sydney, prevailing 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a rollercoaster 11-11 deadlock with Russia through four quarters of regulation play.
Spain broke the deadlock first when Elena Barril slotted home a penalty. Russia hit back three minutes later courtesy of Makarova, before Paula Leiton nudged Spain back in front at 2-1. Daria Kliueva promptly cancelled that out, and the pattern continued as the teams matched each other goal for goal. A further exchange, one strike apiece, left the scoreboard reading 3-3 at the first break.
Scoring dried up briefly after the restart, but three and a half minutes into the period, Paula Crespi struck from distance centrally to edge Spain back ahead at 4-3. Nona Perez then handed Spain their first two-goal advantage of the contest, though Savchenko wasted little time hauling Russia back within one. Spain had the final word before the interval, as Ariadna Barril capped a flowing move to make it 6-4 at halftime.
Olga Lupinogina got the third quarter moving for Russia, finishing an extra-player chance to trim the gap to 6-5. Elena Barril answered two minutes later, restoring Spain’s two-goal cushion at 7-5. A chance to stretch the lead further went begging when Paula Crespi’s penalty was kept out, and Russia punished the miss as Makarova pounced to make it 7-6. Spain nonetheless had the last laugh of the period, with Ariadna Barril netting a buzzer-beater to put Spain 8-6 up heading into the fourth.
Russia came out fighting in search of a way back into the tie, and Markoch got them off the mark early in the fourth to make it 8-7. Carlota Penalver restored Spain’s two-goal margin at 9-7, only for Olga Lupinogina to strike again and narrow it back to a single goal at 9-8. Paula Crespi then netted her second of the match with five minutes on the clock, nudging Spain in front 10-8. Russia weren’t finished, though — a double from Prokofyeva, the latter arriving with a mere 21 seconds remaining, dragged the scores level at 11-11 and forced the contest into a shootout.
The opening three rounds of penalties went in for both sides without a miss, ratcheting up the tension. The breakthrough finally came when Daria Savchenko’s attempt was denied, giving Spain the chance to close it out. Ariadna Barril kept her composure and buried the winning spot-kick, sealing a 4-2 shootout triumph and Spain’s place in the final against the USA in Sydney.
Italy survived a stunning fightback from China to win 11-10 in the 5th-8th place semi final at the Women’s Water Polo World Cup, a match that swung from a comfortable four-goal Italian lead to a nervy finish.
Sofia Giustini opened the scoring with an action shot goal to give Italy the early lead. China hit back immediately, with Yan Siya scoring twice in the space of 40 seconds to put the Asians in front at 2-1. Dafne Bettini leveled matters from a penalty and would take her tally to two with another goal to earn Italy the lead, before Veronica Gant capitalized on a Zhang Jingwen exclusion to score the last goal of the quarter and push Italy’s advantage to two, at 4-2.
Yan Siya continued her fine form early in the second, completing a hat-trick with an action shot goal to narrow the gap to 4-3. Italy responded through Agnese Cocchiere to make it 5-3, and although Zhang Yumlan pulled one back for China at 5-4, Italy then produced the game’s first real scoring run. With 2:30 remaining in the quarter, goals from Gagliardi, Bettini, and Bianconi stretched the lead out to four, and Italy went into halftime firmly in control at 8-4.
Tabani extended Italy’s advantage further to 9-4 shortly after the restart, and with the Chinese having seen a similar deficit against the USA in the quarterfinals, a routine finish looked likely. However, China produced a comeback of their own. The entire third quarter belonged to the Asians, with two more goals from Yan Siya and one apiece from Wang Shiyun and Xie Liyi dragging China back into contention at 9-8 heading into the final period.
Zhang Qishuo completed China’s turnaround just eight minutes from time, leveling the scores at 9-9 and completing an astonishing recovery from a five-goal deficit. Italy’s attack, silent for almost an entire quarter, finally found the net again through Ranalli, restoring the lead at 10-9. Zhang Qishuo struck again soon after to level the match once more, but Sofia Giustini restored Italy’s lead at 11-10 with five minutes remaining.
That proved to be the last goal of the game as the win for Italy was sealed. They move on to play for fifth place, while China’s dramatic comeback ultimately fell just short.
The Netherlands survived a dramatic late fightback from Hungary, winning a sudden-death penalty shootout after the two sides could not be separated across four quarters of their 5th-8th place semifinal. The result sends the Dutch through to face Italy in the battle for fifth place.
Hungary struck first through Zoe Lendvay, but the Netherlands responded with three unanswered goals to turn the game around and take a 3-1 lead, prompting Hungary to call a timeout. The stoppage brought nearly four minutes without a goal at either end, but Hungary rallied in the closing stages of the quarter. Vanda Valyi and Eszter Varro both scored in the final minute to level the score at 3-3 heading into the second.
Hungary’s momentum from the first period didn’t carry over. The sides traded goals to make it 4-4, but the Netherlands then closed out the quarter on a 4-1 run, taking a commanding 8-5 lead into the halftime break.
Hungary refused to fold. Krisztina Garda opened the scoring early in the fourth to make it 10-8, and after a four-minute drought for both sides, Garda struck twice more to level the match at 2:22 remaining. Kittylynn Joustra restored the Dutch lead on their next attack at 11-10, but Hungary had the final say — Panna Tiba scored with just 11 seconds left to force a tie and send the match to penalties.
Both sides converted their first two penalties in the shootout before Panna Tiba’s attempt was saved. The Netherlands then missed their own chance though, with Marit van der Weijden’s effort in the fourth round also stopped. That left the shootout tied at four penalties apiece after five rounds, sending the match to sudden death. It didn’t take long for sudden death penalties to end — Krisztina Garda’s sudden-death penalty was saved, and Maxine Schaap converted to seal the win for the Netherlands.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
