Water polo will get new world champions for both men and women in the next few days
Yesterday, Croatia, the 2024 men’s champion, was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Today, Team USA, which won the women’s title last year, faced a defeat against Greece in the semifinals of the World Championships in Singapore.
Greece triumphed over Team USA ,14:10, in a match filled with twists and turns. The USA spent more time in chasing the score than its opponent. Greece managed to pull off several significant 3:0 runs that contributed to their victory.
Greece will compete against Hungary in the final on Wednesday. The Hungarians convincingly defeated Spain 15:9, although the final score does not fully reflect Hungary’s dominance in that match.
The Netherlands and Australia advanced to the 5th-place match, China finished in 9th, and Great Britain in 11th place.
Road to medals
- Crossover round (July 17): Italy– China 13:11, New Zealand– Netherlands 9:14, Greece– France 23:9, Japan– Great Britain 23:10.
- Quarterfinals (July 19): Australia– Greece 7:8, USA– Japan 26:8 , Hungary– Italy 12:9, Spain – Netherlands 15:13 (PSO).
- Semifinals (July 21): Greece – USA 14:10, Hungary – Spain 15:9.
- Final Day (July 23) – final: Greece – Hungary, bronze-medal match: USA – Spain.
2025 World Women’s Water Polo Championships, Day 6
SF Semifinals
Greece – USA 14:10 (2:2, 4:3, 3:3, 5:2)
Greece: V. Plevritou 4, Santa 3, Xenaki 3, Patra 1, E. Plevritou 1, Tricha 1.
USA: Neushul 2, Roemer 2, Lineback 2, Ausmus 2, Stryker 1, Flynn 1.
Three times during the game, the Greeks produced a 3:0 run. These series proved vital for their win.
Anna Pearson of USA and Athina Giannopoulou of Greece Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-PhotoTeam USA took a lead of 2:0 in the first quarter. In the 2nd minute, Lineback scored the first goal, making it 1:0. Just 62 seconds before the end of the first period, a penalty shot was awarded to the USA after a challenge by head coach Adam Krikorian. Flynn converted it for 2:0. Many thought the Americans would enter the second period with a 2:0 lead, especially since Greece was struggling offensively. However, the Greek players found their rhythm, scoring two goals in the last 48 seconds of the first period—one from Santa and another from Eleftheria Plevritou—tying the game.
In the second quarter, Ausmus put Team USA back in front. However, Greece responded with three consecutive goals, taking a 5:3 lead. From that point on, the Americans were on the chase. They managed to regroup, scoring four goals and conceding only one to take a 7:6 advantage after Neushil’s goal in the 19th minute. Myriokefalitaki leveled the score in the next possession, but Roemer quickly responded for the USA, scoring with an extra player to make it 8:7. The game then shifted again as Greece scored three straight goals.
Vasiliki Plevritou (Greece) Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo
Stefania Santa concluded Greece’s scoring spree with a power-play goal in the 25th minute (10:8), and Lineback answered with a goal from the right. After a brief pause in scoring, Greece struck decisively with a new run of three goals, this time between the 29th and 31st minutes. Xenaki started the rally, and Vasiliki Plevritou scored twice, pushing the score to 13:9 and sealing Greece’s victory. In the final minute, Vasiliki Plevritou added a fourth goal to her tally (14:9), and the Americans managed to score a consolation goal afterward.
Hungary – Spain 15:9 (6:2, 5:2, 3:2, 1:3)
Hungary: Szilagyi 3, Keszthelyi 3, Leimeter 2, Valvyi 2, Varro 1, Rybanska 1, Tiba 1.
Spain: E. Ruiz 3, Ortiz 2, Crespi 1, Prats 1, Camus 1, Leiton 1.
The second semifinal lacked excitement. Hungary had a dream start and quickly eliminated all suspense.
Spain scored an opening goal, but Hungary answered with a 6:0 run. Thirty seconds before the end of the first half, Hungary led 6:1. The Hungarians had an excellent percentage of extra-player shots in the first quarter, converting five of six opportunities. As for Spain, after several missed chances, they scored their first goal from a 6 on 5 in the dying seconds of the first period.
Rita Keszthelyi Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo)
In the second quarter, Hungary continued dictating the pace. Besides excellent goalgetters, goalkeeper Boglarka Neszmely gave an enormous contribution to the win. By halftime, the Hungarians established a 7-goal lead. They were close to a double-digit margin, as they went to 14:5 in the third quarter. However, since everything was decided after the third quarter, Hungary slowed the pace in the final quarter.
CL 5th -8th place classification, semifinals
Australia – Japan 21:17 (7:6, 6:3, 2:3, 6:4)
Australia: Kearns 5, Jackovich 5, Hearn 4, Williams 2, A. Andrews 2, Halligan 1, Green 1, C. Andrews 1.
Japan: Arima 5, Kobayashi 4, Kawaguchi 3, Fukuda 2, Ura 1, Sunabe 1, Nishiyama 1,
Danijela Jackovich (Australia) Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo
Olympic silver medallist Australia had to work hard to beat the Japanese team. The Aussies led for most of the match, but Japan chased them persistently.
Japan took an opening lead (1:0, 2:1, 3:2). Midway through the first quarter, Australia went ahead for the first time – 4:3. From that point on, the „Stingers“ controlled the result. Japan leveled at 4:4, 5:5, 6:6, and 7:7. After Japan’s seventh goal, the Australians produced a 3:0 run, to earn a solid 10:7 lead and maintained the difference until halftime. However, the Japanese didn’t give in. Early in the fourth period, the Asians cut the deficit to only one goal (15:16). Australia then replied with three straight goals in a minute and a half, jumping to 19:15, holding back Japan’s last comeback attempt.
Italy – Netherlands 13:16 (2:6, 4:2, 3:5, 4:3)
Italy: Cocchiere 3, Giustini 2, Bianconi 2, Bettini 1, Leone 1, Gant 1, Cergol 1, Ranalli 1, Gagliardi 1.
Netherlands: L. Rogge 3, Van der Weijden 2, Van de Kraats 2, Van der Sloot 2, Keuning 2, Sevenich 2, Joustra 1, Ten Broek 1, De Vries 1.
The Dutch imposed their rhythm from the first whistle. After an excellent first quarter, Joustra made it 7:2 from a counterattack. However, Italy managed to recover and cut the deficit to 6:8 by the end of the first half.
Sabrina van der Sloot Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo)
However, after the middle break, the Netherlands retook control and quickly scored two goals, doubling the advantage to 10:6. They maintained this lead until the end of the quarter. Two minutes and a half, the Dutch led 12:8, but shortly after, they lost without one of the key players, Simone van de Kraats, who was excluded for a violent foul under the water (a VAR review showed that she elbowed Ranalli). But, Italy didn’t capitalize on the woman advantage it had in the following four minutes. Giustini converted a penalty shot after the exclusion. However, three seconds before the last break, Sabrina van der Sloot made it 13:9 from a 5 on 5 attack. During a four-minute exclusion, Italy added one more goal (10:13), but the Netherlands controlled the game. Still, in the middle of the fourth period, the Italians scored two goals within 56 seconds and narrowed the gap to 13:14. Their hopes of making a turn revived. However, they couldn’t go further, as the Dutch scored the last two goals in the game.
Italy paid for a poor conversion of extra player shots (2/9), while the Netherlands scored from each of its six attempts in 6 on 5 situations.
9 9th place match
China – New Zealand 10:6 (4:2, 2:1, 0:1, 4:2)
China: Y. Zhang 2, Zhou 2,Wang 2, Yan 2 Shao 1, J. Zhang 1.
New Zealand: MdDowall 5. Houghton 1.
China got off to a great start, scoring three unanswered goals in the first 03:15 minutes and the 3:0 lead put the Asians on the right track. New Zealand quickly cut the deficit. An unstoppable Morgan McDowall found the net twice within 29 seconds for 2:3. However, the “Kiwis” never erased an opening three-goal deficit.
Huan Wang (China) and, Aggie Weston ( New Zealand) Photo: MTB-Photo
In the second quarter, China regained a 3-goal advantage (5:2 and 6:3). Even though the Asians didn’t score a single goal in the third period, they controlled the match and never let New Zealand come very close. Early in the fourth quarter, China established a 4-goal lead for the first time (8:4) and maintained the difference until the end.
China committed 15 personal fouls, but it defended excellently with a woman down. New Zealand scored only two goals from 13 extra player shots and converted one of its two penalty shots. China didn’t convert any of its extra player and penalty shots, but a good defense led the Asians to the victory.
11th-place match.
11 11th place match
France – Great Britain 9:14 (1:2, 3:4, 2:4, 3:4)
France: Vernoux 3, Radosavljevic 2, Duflos 1, Heaurtaux 1, Jean-Michel 1, Raspo 1.
Great Britain: Rogers 3, Turner 3, Peters 2, Brown 2, Clapperton 1, Falvey 1, Tafazolli 1, Howe 1.
Great Britain and France faced off for the second time at the 2025 World Championships. Great Britain recorded a 12:9 victory after overcoming an early 3:4 deficit.
Today, France scored an opening goal, but Great Britain dictated the pace for most of the game. Already in the second quarter, Great Britain built a 3-goal lead (5:2). France was coming back from time to time, but Great Britain controlled the match.
Great Britain Photo: MTB-Photo
The Brits’ very good conversion made the difference. Great Britain’s percentage of powerplay shots was 59% (8 goals from 13 attempts) compared to France’s 29% (2/7).
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