The opening day of the women’s water polo tournament at the 18th World Championships in Gwangju was the day of big wins. More than 200 goals were scored today (exactly – 216 goals!).
Favorites had no mercy against teams which are far from the world’s top.
Hungary achieved the biggest win in the history of the World Championships, by beating host South Korea -64:0! Before this match, the record was Croatia men’s win over New Zealand – 38:1 (Rome, 1994).
The Netherlands, the European champion, blew away South Africa 33:0. That is the third biggest winning margin in the history of the WCH.
USA and Russia also convincingly defeated their respective rivals.
The surprise of the day was the match Greece – Spain, which was supposed to be a highlight of Group C. Spain trashed Greece – 14:4.
The last match of the day was the only one which offered a lot of excitements. Italy defeated Australia by a goal (10:9) in a derby of Group D.
18th FINA World Championships, women’s water polo tournament, Day 1
Group A
South Africa – Netherlands 0:33 (0:7, 0:10, 0:9, 0:7)
Netherlands: Van de Kraats 7, Megens 6,Genee 4, Voorvelt 3 Van der Sloot 3, Wolves 3, Rogge 3, Stromphorst 2, Keuning 2
New Zealand – USA 3:22 (0:8, 1:4, 0:6,2:4)
New Zealand: Doyle 2, McDowall.
USA: Haralabidis 5, Fisher 3, Hauschild 3, Fattal 2, Gilchirst 2, Neushul 2, Fisher 2, Williams 1, Musselman 1, Steffens 1.
The tournament was opened as it was expected. The Netherlands convincingly defeated South Africa in the first match. The European champions and the Europa Cup winners, led by Simone van de Kraats (7 goals) and Maud Megens (6), recorded a 33:0 win.
World and Olympic champion the USA team cruised to a win over New Zealand 22:3.
The first round was a “warm-up” for the Dutch and the Americans who will face off in the 2nd round on Tuesday.
1 Netherlands 1 – 2
2 USA 1 – 2
3 New Zealand 1 – 0
4 South Africa 1 – 0
Group B
Hungary – South Korea 64:0 (16:0, 18:0, 16:0, 14:0)
Hungary: Parkes 11, Szilagyi 10, Gurisatti 8, Rybanska 8, Csabai 7, Keszthelzy 5, Horvath 4, Valyi 3, Illes 3, Leimeter 3, Gyongyossy 2.
Canada – Russia 10:18 (1:2, 2:5, 4:5, 3:6)
Canada: Christmas 3, McKelvey 2, Crevier 1,Wright 1, Eggens 1, McKee 1, Lemay-Lavoie 1.
Russia: Prokofyeva 3, Gorbunova 2, Serzhantova 2, Simanovich 2, Soboleva 2, Ryzhkova 2, Bersneva, Ivanova, Karimova, Tolkunova, Timofeeva.
The result Hungary – South Korea 64:0 isn’t a big surprise. The Hungarians are high-class players, while South Korea didn’t have a women water polo team before the Championships. The hosts’ squad was hastily composed of former swimmers in May. The oldest one in the team is a 22-years-old goalkeeper Heeji Oh. Other 12 players were born in the 21st century. The youngest girl in the Korean team is Yelim Cho, who will turn 14 in November (born on November 7th, 2005). She is the youngest player at the water polo tournament in Gwangju.
A question for the host country: Why the water polo team wasn’t formed earlier? The host of the 2019 World Championships was announced six years ago. Why South Korea didn’t start to prepare a team earlier? The 13 young Korean girls aren’t guilty of this shaming result.
On the other side, Hungary didn’t slow until the last buzzer, because goal difference might be crucial for the final ranking in the group.
Russia successfully improved its goal difference in the match against Canada, the 4th-placed team at the 2017 World Championships and in the 2018 World League. The Russians had a slow start. Canada scored the first goal in the match (in the 1st minute), but the Russians managed to take the first lead late in the first quarter (2:1).In the remaining time, Russia dominated and took points with an 18:10 win. The Russians didn’t let a thrilling ending as in the previous encounter between these two sides, at the World League Super Final in Budapest in June. A month ago, Russia defeated Canada after the penalty-shootout (19:17).
1 Hungary 1 – 2
2 Russia 1 – 2
3 Canada 1 – 0
4 South Korea 1 – 0
Group C
Greece – Spain 4:14 (1:6, 2:2, 0:3, 1:3)
Greece: Tsoukala 1, Eleftheriadou 1, Asimaki 1, Xenaki 1.
Spain: Tarrago 6, Ortiz 2, Forca 2, Garcia 2, Espar 1, Leiton 1
Cuba – Kazakhstan 6:9 (0:1, 3:1, 2:4, 1:3)
Cuba: Chavez Pena 2, Gonzalez Tamayo 1, Carrasco Lezva 1, Bernal Villa 1, Diaz Mesa 1.
Kazakhstan: Myrzabekova 3, Mirshina 2, Novikova 2, Turova 2.
Few could predict that the gap between Greece (2011 World Champion) and Spain (gold at the 2013 World Championships) would be 10 goals at the end of the game.
The Spaniards took a flying start. They needed just three minutes to earn a 3:0 lead. Greece soon found the back of the net, but Roser Tarrago netted three goals in a row by the end of the first period and Spain jumped to a 6:1 lead before the second quarter. The second quarter was balanced (2:2). Greece coach Morfesis replaced a goalkeeper in the 15th minute (Kotsioni replaced Stamatopoulou), but it didn’t help. Spain continued to dominate. By the middle of the fourth, the Spaniards produced a 6:0 run to earn a big 11-goal lead (14:3). The Greeks scored a consolation goal in the 30th minute for the final score.
Spain celebrated a 14:4 win and took a huge step towards the 1st place in the group and towards the quarterfinals. Roser Tarrago was the top scorer (6 goals).
Kazakhstan defeated Cuba in the second match in this group. Cuba earned a 4:2 lead early in the third period. Kazakhstan turned around the deficit to a 6:5 lead by the end of this quarter. The Asians controlled everything in the last quarter and won points (9:6)
1 Spain 1 -2
2 Kazakhstan 1 -2
3 Cuba 1 – 0
4 Greece 1 – 0
Group D
Italy – Australia 10:9 (3:0, 3:2, 3:3, 1:4)
Italy: Garibotti 3, Avegno 2, Bianconi 2, Palmieri 2, Queirolo 1.
Australia: Webster 4, Buckling 2,Gofers 1, Mihailovic 1, Ridge 1.
Japan – China 6:8 (2:1, 1:1, 2:4, 1:2)
Japan: Arima 3, Koide 2, Magariyama 1.
China: Chen 2, X. Wang 2 Niu 1, H.Wang 1, D. Zhang 1, J. Zhang 1.
Italy earned golden points in a derby against Australia thanks to a nice opening of the game. In the middle of the first period, the Italians were 3:0 up. The “Aussie Sharks” came close early in the second quarter (2:3). But Italy had a safe 6:2 lead at halftime, by scoring three goals in the last two minutes of the period. Italy’s goalie Giulia Gorlero was outstanding this evening (10 saves in the first half, 16 in total).
Australia started climbing back and managed to reduce the gap to one again in the 27th minute (8:9). “Sharks” had a great chance to equalize, but they didn’t convert a man-up attack. Italy soon was 10:8 up. Webster scored for 9:10 (45 seconds from the end). Australia had the last attack and a new opportunity to secure a point. But, Halligan hit the post five seconds before the final buzzer and Italy celebrated a narrow win.
After the first half of the Asian derby Japan – China, the Japanese had a minimal lead (3:2). China took control in the 3rd and the 4th quarter for an 8:6 win.
1 China 1 – 2
2 Italy 1 – 2
3 Australia 1 – 0
4 Japan 1 – 0
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