Day 6, World Women's Junior Water Polo Championship: Netherlands-Russia gold-medal final

Russia will defend its crown against Netherlands in Sunday's FINA World Women's Junior Water Polo Championship at the Olympic Swimming Complex in Funchal (POR).
The champion of the previous edition of the tournament, held in Greece in 2017, will play the final game of the event againts Netherlands. The Dutch team captured bronze two years ago in Volos and wants to earn gold medal in the capital city of Portugal's island of Madeira.
In the first semifinal, Netherlands beat Italy 11-8.
In the second semifinal, Russia gave no option to Greece (16-9).
Italy will play Greece in Sunday's bronze-medal match.
In the round 5-8 semifinals, United States beat China 16-10 and Spain defeated Hungary 13-8.
United States and Spain will play for fifth position and China and Hungary will go for seventh ranking.
In classification matches, Australia beat Canada 14-5 for ninth position and Brazil defeated South Africa 13-12 in penalty shootout for 11th position.
Saturday schedule
Classification 11-12
Match 39, 10:00, BRAZIL 13 SOUTH AFRICA 12 in penalty shootout (FT: 9-9. Pens: 4-3)
Classification 9-10
Match 40, 11:20, CANADA 5 AUSTRALIA 14
Classification 5-8 semifinals
Match 41, 12:40, UNITED STATES 16 CHINA 10
Match 42, 17:20, HUNGARY 8 SPAIN 13
Semifinals
Match 43, 18:40, ITALY 8 NETHERLANDS 11
Match 44, 20:00, RUSSIA 16 GREECE 9
Sunday schedule
Classification 7-8
Match 45, 16:00, CHINA v HUNGARY
Classification 5-6
Match 46, 17:20, UNITED STATES v SPAIN
Classification 3-4
Match 47, 18:40, ITALY v GREECE
Classification 1-2
Match 48, 20:00, NETHERLANDS v RUSSIA
Photo credit: Pedro Vasconcelos
Match reports
Quarters: 1-2, 3-3, 1-1, 4-3
Referees: Damir Temyrkhanov (KAZ) and Fiona Sharyn Haigh (AUS)
Teams
BRAZIL: Thatiana Pregolini, Ana Quesada, Alissa Pinciroli (1), Giovana Silva (1), Ana Amaral, Ana Dias (2+1), Kemily Leao (1+1), Luana Quinn, Leticia Belorio (2+1), Ana Alice Amaral (1), Mylla Pereira (2), Jennifer Cavalcante, Isabela Souza. Head Coach: Ricardo Crivella.
SOUTH AFRICA: Daniella Passoni, Paige Tancrel (1+1), Jennifer Everett (2), Boati Motau (1+1), Astrid Faustmann, Hanna Muller, Shakira January, Kate Hinrichs (1), Hanna Weppelman (1), Jordan Wedderburn (1), Chloe Meecham (1+1), Lucy Miszewski (1), Zanne Smit. Head Coach: Delaine Mentoor
Brazil defeated South Africa 13-12 in penalty shootout for 11th position after drawing 9-9 at the final buzzer. Brazil's Ana Dias tied the game with only 23 seconds to play. In penalty shootout, Brazil missed one attempt and South Africa two so the South American squad finished in the eleventh place in Funchal.
Quarters: 0-2, 2-4, 1-4, 2-4
Referees: Liang Zhang (CHN) and Asumi Nishihara (JPN)
Teams
CANADA: Hana Truchla, Blaire McDowell (2), Ava Morrant, Briana Utas, Adrien Van Dyke, Verica Bakoc (3), Valeria Rojas, Daphne Guevremont, Apryl Gonzalez, Florranne Carroll, Myriam Lizotte, Paige Donald, Marianne Bouchard Cote. Head Coach: Cyril Dorgigne.
AUSTRALIA: Claire Durston, Jamie Oberman (1), Glenda Morgan, Ruby Swadling, Sophie Milliken (3), Abby Andrews (2), Carla Traplin (1), Nioka Thomas (2), Kasey Dalziel (2), Tenealle Fasala (2), Jessica Emerson, Charlize Andrews (1), Isobelle Pamp. Head Coach: Georgina Kovacs
"Going into the game against Canada we want to keep up our intensity and I think we can really give them a run for their money. The girls are feeling good, upbeat and ready for our last game," Nioka Thomas said after the big win over South Africa on Friday. Her prediction was good. Australia beat Canada 14-5 to finish nineth in this tournament. Eight players scored in Australia this morning; in Canada only two players netted the ball, Blaire MacDowell (2) and Verica Bakoc (3).
Quarters: 7-3, 3-1, 4-2, 2-4
Referees: Eurico Moreira da Silva (POR) and Daniel Federico Daners Chao (URG)
Teams
UNITED STATES: Georgia Phillips, Noelle Wijnbelt (1), Sarah Klass, Abrielle Hill (1), Honnie Vandeweghe, Bayley Weber (6), Jewel Roemer (2), Roxanne Wheaton (1), Jenna Flynn, Ryann Neushul (5), Valeria Ayala, Ava Johnson, Isabel Williams. Head Coach: Natalie Benson.
CHINA: Wenxin Dong, Shiyun Wang (1), Yizhen Zhu, Xiao Chen (4), Bozhou Lu (1), Qingwei Wang, Wen Su (1), Rui Xu (3), Xinyan Meng, Yujia Bai, Ziyan Xiao, Siya Yan, Yuting Xie. Head Coach: Jun Lin.
United States defeated China 16-10 to advance to the fifth place match at the FINA World Women's Junior Water Polo Championship. United States built an early lead taking a 7-3 advantage in the first quarter with goals from Ryann Neushul (3), Bayley Weber, Roxane Wheaton, Jewel Roemer and Abrielle Hill. Team USA leaded also second and third periods to take an eight-goal margin. China discounted two goals in the fourth quarter for a final 16-10.
Quarters: 0-3, 3-2, 2-3, 3-5
Referees: Sergey Krizhanovskiy (RUS) and Sander Paul Gransjean (NED)
Teams
HUNGARY: Alda Magnon Magyari, Zita Armai, Vanda Valyi (1), Luca Petovari (1), Natasa Rybanska (2), Janka Utassy (2), Fanni Muzsnay, Kamilla Farago (2), Eszter Lara Kiss, Berta Farago, Panna Kudella, Panna Petik, Lila Maczko. Head Coach: Tamas Farago.
SPAIN: Sandra Domene, Paula Camus, Paula Leiton (3), Ruth Ariño, Silvia Morell (2), Alba Bonamusa (1), Berta Seto (1), Elia Montoya (2), Lucia Gomez de la Puente (1), Helena Dalmases (2), Sofia Diaz, Alejandra Aznar (1), Paula Nieto. Head Coach: Javier Aznar
Spain started today a new fight for the fifth place. After its defeat against Greece in the quarters, the Spanish team is trying to get the best result possible in Funchal, in the same swimming pool where many players of the squad became u19 European champions in 2018. Spain defeated Hungary 13-8 and will battle against United States for the fifth place.
Quarters: 3-1, 1-3, 3-4, 1-3
Referees: Darren Brown Spiritosanto (USA) and Marjay Zsolt (HUN)
Teams
ITALY: Caterina Banchelli, Nicole Zanetta (2), Anna Repetto (2), Giorgia Amedeo, Elena Borg, Lucrezia Cergol (2), Sofia Giustini, Isabella Riccioli (1), Francesca Colletta, Carlotta Meggiato, Agnese Cocchiere (1), Dafne Bettini, Marzia Imperatrice. Head Coach: Paolo Zizza
NETHERLANDS: Sarah Buis, Lieke Rogge (3), Rozanne Voorvelt (3), Marit van der Weijden (1), Isis Keijzer, Simone van de Kraats, Nina Ten Broek (1), Maxine Schaap (1), Lot Stertefeld, Laura Schinkel (2), Sam Jutte, Storm Willemsen, Janieke Oosting. Head Coach: Evangelos Doudesis.
In the first semifinal, Netherlands came back from two down in the first quarter (3-1) to take the match in the final period for a 8-11 margin against Italy. The Dutch players competed brilliantly against Italy, imposed its deffense and showed its powerful offense too. Lieke Rogge and Rozanne Voorvelt guided the team into the final so Netherlands will be able to improve the result of the previous World Championship, in Greece. In 2017, the Dutch team took bronze. In Funchal will fight for gold.
Lieke Rogge (NED) - Player
Of course you dream for it, but it is amazing. I am so happy. I hope we win tomorrow, that is what we came for. We will try our best and see what happens. It is amazing already. It is insane. After the first quarter, we talked we would do it better. We did amazing as a team. We did it together. And if you play together as a team you find your way to win the match so that what we did.
Rozanne Voorvelt (NED) - Player
It is amazing. I am so very happy. And I am so proud of all my teammates. We did it! It is a dream! It was our dream and it came true. It was a hard game, very tough. Italy played very well but we won. I don't know how, I forgot it but we won and it is the most important thing. Tonight we can be happy and tomorrow we have to refocus again on the final.
Isabella Riccioli (ITA) - Player
I think today we had more chances to score a goal. We were a little bit stressed about the type of play. Tomorrow we have to win a bronze medal. We accept what happened today and we think about tomorrow. It is important to win tomorrow. We spent a lot of hours training hard for this event. A bronze medal would be a good medal.
Quarters: 5-3, 4-1, 3-2, 4-3
Referees: Ernesto Inesta Peralta (ESP) and Josko Prancic (CRO)
Teams
RUSSIA: Evgeniia Golovina, Polina Kempf (6), Elizaveta Zaplatina (1), Margarita Pystina (3), Anastassia Diachenko (1), Polina Popova (1), Daria Chagochkina (1), Anastasia Leonova, Regina Galimzianova (1), Tatiana Tolkunova (2), Anastasiia Shapkina, Nadezhda Lipskaia, Svetlana Stepakhina. Head Coach: Sergey Markoch.
GREECE: Marina Kotsioni, Effrosyni Katsimpri, Anastasia Loudi (1), Eleni Elliniadi (1), Elisavet Protopapas, Maria Anna Mastrokalou, Eirini Ninou (1), Maria Myriokefalitaki (1), Iliana Kokkinaki, Vasiliki Douli (2), Ioulia Anna Kontoni (1), Eleni Kanetidou (2), Emmanouela Archontaki. Head Coach: Stefanos Leandros.
In the second semifinal, Russia beat Greece 16-9 and will defend its crown against Netherlands in Sunday's FINA World Women's Junior Water Polo Championship at the Olympic Swimming Complex in Funchal (POR). Early in the game, Russia demonstrated its determination to play for gold again. In fact, every quarter was won by the Russian team (5-3, 4-1, 3-2, 4-3). Polina Kempf contributed with six goals to the victory of a squad that has a big opportunity to defend the title.
Polina Kempf (RUS) - Player
It was a very difficult game but we could win. Tomorrow we want to win. I trust my teammates.
Eleni Kanetidou (GRE) - Player
We played the worst we could. We were bad at defense and in the offense we didn't play as we know. We have one more game and no time to cry.