Netherlands and Hungary made the most of their chances to further their reputations with women’s water polo quarter-final victories at Margaret Island in Budapest on Tuesday. Netherlands buried Greece’s hopes 12-7 and Hungary used the crowd to the fullest to pip Australia 7-6 in a real thriller. The semifinals will see Italy play USA while Hungary will clash with Netherlands on Thursday.
New Zealand and Canada will clash for ninth place on Thursday. For two teams that came so close to staying in the top eight, it will be some reward for a busy week, although both would have hoped for better. New Zealand downed Argentina 13-7 and Canada bettered Kazakhstan 19-11. Argentina and Kazakhstan will play for 11-12 classifications.
South Africa downed Brazil 8-7 to claim 13th classification in Szeged. The African team was one place better than Gwangju 2019 and Brazil was one placing lower than Budapest 2017 as it did not qualify for 2019. In the play-off for 15th classification, Thailand came from 6-4 down in the third period to defeat Colombia 10-6. It was a tremendous effort for their first visits to the FINA World Championships.
Italy and reigning champion United States of America are through to the women’s water polo semifinals following Margaret Island action in Budapest on Tuesday. Italy overcame a slow start against France before pulling away to a 17-7 margin. USA took half a match to shake off Spain, a team it has faced at last year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic final and the previous two FINA World Championship finals. From 6-5 at halftime, USA moved to 11-8 at the final break and onwards to a 13-8 victory.
