Day One Complete in Women’s Water Polo Preliminary Competition at Worlds

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 19. WATER Polo action got underway at the FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia with the first round of preliminary action for the women.

Group A
Spain doubled up China in a 15-7 triumph as Jennifer Pareja led all scorers with four goals. Spain's Cristina Lopez also picked up a hat trick with three tallies, while Ma Huanhuan and Sun Huizi led China with two each.

In the second Group A match, No. 3 Russia came out on top of Germany, 18-11, in a high-scoring affair. Sofya Konukh torched a match-high five goals past the German goalie, while Alena Vylegzhanina (4) and Elena Smurova (3) also registered hat tricks. Germany scored with a balanced attack as Ariane Rump, Katrin Dierolf, Monika Kruszona and Nina Wengst each notched a pair of goals.

Group B
Brazil crushed Puerto Rico, 13-2 in the first Group B match. Camila Pedroza-Freire led all scorers with four goals, while Luiza Carvalho also netted a hat trick. Angelica and Amanda Ortiz nabbed both of Puerto Rico's goals.

In an exciting match, hometown No. 1 Australia picked up a 5-4 victory over No. 7 Canada. Gemma Beadsworth of Australia and Christine Robinson of Canada each posted a match-high two goals.

Group C
Greece topped Kazakhstan, 11-5, in the opening match of Group C. Kyriaki Liosi connected for a match-high four goals, while Angeliki Gerolymou notched a hat trick with three of her own. Meanwhile, Marina Gritsenko led Kazakhstan with a hat trick after tallying three goals.

The United States picked up a hard fought 9-7 conquest of the Netherlands in the second Group C match. They matched the Netherlands in each of the periods, but won the third 4-2 for the margin of victory. Heather Petri and Natalie Golda led the U.S. with two goals each, while Iefke Van Belkum tallied a match-high four goals for the Netherlands.

Group D
No. 9 Cuba and No. 12 New Zealand battled to a draw, 7-7, in the first match for Group D. Hirovis Hernandez, Danay Gutierrez and Yanelis Andrew each notched two goals for Cuba, while Kelly Mason dominated scoring with four for New Zealand.

Group D might as well have stood for Group Draw with Olympic champion Italy and world champion Hungary tying 8-8. Aniko Pelle paced Hungary with five goals, while Tania Di Mario led Italy with four.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x