The Netherlands won its second-ever world champion title and the first one after 1991.
The Dutch defeated Spain in a thrilling final of the 20th World Championships in Fukuoka. The match ended in a penalty shootout – 17:16 . The Dutch had a 3-goal lead in the final quarter. Spain came back and leveled the score (12:12), but it fell in a penalty shootout.
Italy won the bronze medal, beating Australia in a 30-goal game – 16:14.
The bronze-medal match was the only of today’s clashes that ended after 32 minutes.
The former world champion Team USA defeated Hungary in a penalty shootout (15:13) to finish in 5th place.
The penalty drama decided 7th place. Canada beat Greece 14:12 after each team scored 10 goals in the 32 minutes of play.
Spain’s teenager Elena Ruiz was voted the MVP of the tournament. The best goalkeeper is Laura Aarts (Netherlands) and the best scorer is Judith Forca (Spain), who netted 24 goals.
Elena Ruiz, the MVP of the tournament All photos: Orange Pictures
20th World Water Polo Championship (Fukuoka, July 17 – 29), Women, Day 7
Final
Netherlands – Spain 17:16 (4:3, 2:3, 3:1, 3:5, PSO 5:4)
The tournament ended where it started. The Netherlands beat Spain in the first round of the group stage. The Dutch recorded a 7:6 win two weeks ago. Today, a penalty shootout was needed to determine a winner.
The game produced a lot of twists and turns. The Dutch were closer to a victory in regular time since they had a 3-goal lead at the finish.
Simone van de Kraats
Spain had a better start and took a slim lead at the beginning. Still, the Netherlands was 4:3 up at halftime. But, Spain opened the second quarter with a 3:0 blast. Garcia leveled from an extra player. Elena Ruiz, who was later voted the tournament’s MVP, converted two penalty shots to give the Spaniards a 6:4 lead in the 12th minute.
However, the European champions didn’t keep the momentum. The Netherlands caught up with them with two powerplay goals (Van der Kraast and Joustra) and the teams were on the same starting line before the second half – 6:6.
The third quarter started with a counter-attack goal from Judith Forca and Spain went in front – 7:6, as it turned, for the last time.
Brigitte Sleeking of the Netherlands
Both teams struggled in the attack in the following few minutes. But, midway through this period, the Dutch started ruling the field. Sleeking leveled at 7:7 in the 21st minute. By the 26th minute, the Netherlands added three straight goals. Simone van der Kraast netted a beautiful goal from almost eight meters to make it 10:7 with 06:31 minutes left on the clock. It seemed that there was no way back for the Spaniards.
Still, the European champions got back into the game quickly – with three goals in less than two minutes. Paula Crespi narrowed the gap to one with two action goals, and Ortiz leveled at 10:10 from a 6 on 5 in the middle of the final period.
In the remaining time, the sides traded the goals. Two minutes before the end, Rogge fired the ball from a distance and gave the Dutch a 12:11 lead. Her team kept that minimal advantage almost until the end. Still, 35 seconds before the buzzer, the Spaniards earned a woman-up. Judit Forca leveled at 12:12 with 15 seconds to go. Sabrina van der Sloot had her shot blocked at 00:02 and a penalty shootout determined the winner for the first time in the history of the World Women’s Championships.
Laura Aarts (Netherlands)
The Dutch were calmer at the finish of a big thriller. They scored in all five rounds. The difference was made in the 3rd round when Laura Aarts saved a shot from Bea Ortiz.
Laura Aarts was one of the heroes of the win, since she posted eight saves, including the crucial one in the shootout. The Dutch scored seven (7/11), and Spain four goals with extra players (4/9). Brigitte Sleeking and Simone van de Kraats were the best scorers in the winning team with four goals each. Judith Forca scored six for Spain.
Bronze-medal game
Italy – Australia 16:14 (5:4, 5:6, 3:1, 3:3)
Italy won its first World Championships medal after bronze in Kazan in 2015, beating Australia in a game where the “Setterossa” overcame several troubles including a red card for Valeria Palmieri late into the second quarter.
The first half was an even contest, with a few turns. Still, Australia was more often in front. However, until the 14th minute, neither of the sides had a 2-goal lead. Midway through the second period, Australia’s Casey scored for 7:6. Italy responded with three goals in a minute and a half and turned around the slim deficit to a 9:7 lead. However, Italy’s series was stopped at the finish of the quarter.
Roberta Bianconi (Italy) Photo by Albert ten Hove/Orange Pictures
Italian captain Valeria Palmieri was excluded for a brutality foul 57 seconds before the middle break (after a VAR check, the referees sent her out because of striking Bronte Halligan). Alice Williams scored from a penalty awarded after the red card. The “Aussies” leveled shortly after. But, just seven seconds before the middle break Italy regained a lead from a 5 on 4. Still, Australia’s Charlize Andrews beat the buzzer and leveled at 10:10 in the very last second of the first half.
Still, Australia didn’t take advantage of the red card for Palmieri. The “Aussies” took the lead early in the third (11:10), but after the end of the 4-minute substitution, Italy took control and produced a 5:0 run for a 15:11 lead (28th minute). Australia halved the deficit but wasn’t close to equalizing the score.
The Italians Roberta Bianconi, with six, and Claudia Marletta, with five goals, were the leaders of the winning team. Alice Williams scored three for Australia. There were a lot of power-play goals, but Italy had a better conversion – 8/10 to Australia’s 7/13.
5th-place game
USA – Hungary 15:13 (4:2, 1:3, 5:4, 1:2, PSO 4:2)
The outgoing champion Team USA beat Hungary in the 2022 World Championships final rematch. Today’s game had no big importance, unlike the one in Budapest. The gold medal wasn’t at stake, but both teams were motivated to finish the tournament with a victory. Still, both sides had ups and downs.
Rita Keszthelyi of Hungary, Maggie Steffens of USA
The first quarter saw Team USA taking a 3:0 and 4:1 lead. But, Hungary responded with a 5:0 series. A minute and 14 seconds before the middle break, Dora Leimeter put the Europeans ahead – 5:4. Rachell Fattal ended USA’s goalless phase that lasted for almost 11 minutes and the teams were tied at 5:5 at halftime.
Team USA earned a 2-goal lead several times during the second half (7:5, 8:6,10:8, 11:9). Raney made it 11:9 from a 6 on 5 in the 26th minute and the Americans couldn’t find the net in the following minutes. Rebecca Parkes converted an extra player for 10:11 in the middle of the quarter . Two minutes and 12 seconds before the end, Farago leveled at 11:11. It was also a power-play goal. Both teams had 6 on 5s in their last possessions in the match, but nobody scored a winner, so the game continued in a penalty shootout.
Bayley Weber (USA), Kamilla Farago (HUN), All photos by Orange Pictures
Hungary didn’t score in the first two rounds of shots. Farago hit the post and USA’s goalie Ashleigh Johnson saved a shot from Hajdu. Those were the only two misses in a shootout; the Americans claimed the win and 5th place.
The best scorer was Hungary’s Rita Keszthelyi, with five goals. Jordan Raney contributed to USA’s victory with four goals.Amanda Longan, who was in front of the USA’s goal in the regular time, made nine saves. Alda Magyari posted seven saves for Hungary.
7th-place game
Canada – Greece 14:12 (4:1, 1:4, 4:1, 1:4, PSO 4:2)
The series of thrilling games and penalty shootouts on the last day of the women’s tournament started with the 7th-place game.
In the first quarter, Canada dominated the game, but Greece dictated the pace in the second period and the first half ended with a 5:5 score. The third period was a replay of the first quarter. Canada regain control of the game. The North Americans took a 6:5 lead, the Greeks leveled at 6:6. Then, the Canadians scored three straight goals to head into the fourth period with a 9:6 advantage. What Canada did in the third, Greece repeated in the fourth period.
Canada head coach David Paradelo All photos by Orange Pictures
At the beginning of the quarter, the sides exchanged goals and Canada kept a 10:7 lead for a while. However, Greece produced a comeback with three unanswered goals in the last 03:12 minutes. Eleni Xenaki found the net from a center-forward position with 12 seconds remaining and set the final score of the regular time – 10:10.
Canada’s goalkeeper Jessica Gaudreult posted two saves in a shootout. Her colleague Ioanna Stamatopoulou blocked one shot and Canada finished in 7th place.
Final standings
1.Netherlands
2.Spain
3.Italy
4.Australia
5.USA
6.Hungary
7.Canada
8.Greece
9.France
10.Israel
11.New Zealand
12.South Africa
13.China
14.Japan
15.Kazakhstan
16.Argentina
All medal winners
1986 (Madrid): 1. Australia, 2. Netherlands, 3. United States
1991 (Perth): 1. Netherlands, 2. Canada, 3. United States
1994 (Rome): 1. Hungary, 2. Netherlands, 3. Italy
1998 (Perth): 1. Italy, 2. Netherlands, 3. Australia
2001 (Fukuoka): 1. Italy, 2. Hungary, 3. Canada
2003 (Barcelona): 1. United States, 2. Italy, 3. Russia
2005 (Montreal): 1. Hungary, 2. United States, 3. Canada
2007 (Melbourne): 1. United States, 2. Australia, 3. Russia
2009 (Rome): 1. United States, 2. Canada, 3. Russia
2011 (Shanghai): 1. Greece, 2. China, 3. Russia
2013 (Barcelona): 1. Spain, 2. Australia, 3. Hungary
2015 (Kazan): 1. United States, 2. Netherlands, 3. Italy
2017 (Budapest): 1. United States, 2. Spain, 3. Russia
2019 (Gwangju): 1. United States, 2. Spain, 3. Australia
2022 (Budapest): 1. United States, 2. Hungary, 3. Netherlands
2023 (Fukuoka): 1. Netherlands, 2. Spain, 3. Italy
For more news and the World Championships schedule, visit Total Waterpolo’s 2023 World Championships page.
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