The Inter-Continental Cup
Last week was a busy, but very enjoyable week for all water polo fans. Apart from the LEN tournament in Rijeka (CRO), the Inter-Continental Cup in New Zealand had some of the most interesting games lately, with teams from all over the world fighting for the title.
Team USA was the star last weekend in Auckland, where both their men’s and women’s teams claimed the gold medal, defeating Australia in their respective finals.
Current Olympic and World champion, the American women, won with a convincing 10-7, leaving the silver medal to the Australians. In the bronze game, Canada beat China 9-8 and Japan finished fifth with an 11-9 win against Kazakhstan.
In the men’s tournament, Japan secured the bronze with a 12-7 win over Kazakhstan. Canada claimed fifth place with a 12-6 win over the hosts, New Zealand, and seventh place went to Argentina, 6-5 winners over China.
If you missed the matches or just need a reminder, see the Men’s final ranking and Women’s final ranking.
The European Teams
In parallel, the European teams played their sixth and final round of the men’s preliminaries last night (Tuesday, April 10).
According to the rules, Montenegro, Croatia, and Hungary, as well as the hosts Russia have qualified for the World League Super Final to be held in Russia (city to be confirmed) from June 18-23, 2018. These four teams will be joined by USA, Australia, Japan, and Kazakhstan.
The women’s sixth European round will be disputed on May 1. Russia and Hungary will play in Saint – Petersburg (RUS) and Spain – Netherlands will meet in Madrid (ESP).
USA, Australia, Canada, and China have already secured a spot for the Super Final.
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