Water Polo in Khanty-Mansiysk

     The first day of the Junior Women’s Water Polo World Championship-2009 in Khanty-Mansiysk has come to an end.

     In group «А» there was one match, where the National team of Canada won the German team rather easily. However the National team of Mexico, which was in this group by lot, gave up the competitions, so all three group «А» teams still carry on fighting at play-off stage.

     In group «В» the National team of Australia, which was supposed to be one of the favourites of the tournament, started the match against Spain unevenly and made too many mistakes in the positional attack in the first period. But little by little Australian water polo players got used and showed their physical advantage over the competitors. By the middle of the third period they were at a good advantage in score (9:5, 10:6) and with confidence won the game. During the second match of the day in group «В» the National team of Italy defeated the team of Kazakhstan without any trouble. Kazakhstan Water polo players not only yield to the competitors in class noticeably, moreover they suffered some adventures on their way to Khanty-Mansiysk – their flight had been cancelled, so they arrived at a place only on the match day.

     The National team of New Zealand over a period of almost the whole match was putting up a stiff resistance to the favourite of the group «С» - Hungarian water polo players. The goalkeeper from New Zealand Ianeta Hutchinson played the match well; she rescued the team several times. But the class of the Hungarian team had an impact – three goals in a row, scored by Andras MERESZ’s trainee in the end of the second period, made them breakaway. The National team of Uzbekistan is the youngest team at the tournament, there are six water polo players born in 1994 and younger in this team. They just didn’t have enough strength for elder competitors from South Africa. In the end the advantage of the African team was unconditional; though the Uzbek team was still hoping to win during the fourth period (the score was only 10:7 in favour of South Africa).

     In group «D» the National team of Brazil couldn’t make any troubles to one of the favourites – the National team of the Netherlands. There were no questions about the result almost by the end of the first period owing to the advantage of four goals scored by the Dutch women. At the last meeting of the first day the National team of Russia was able to win the USA team. The Russian team made a decisive spurt at the end of the third period and after three goals in a row the score became 11:7…

     Fabio CONTI, head coach of the Italian National team: - I don’t know if we are the favorites of the tournament. But I know exactly: Italy is a good team. There are strong teams – such as Hungary, Russia, Australia, the USA. But every competition is not the same.

     Larissa OLKHINA, head coach of Kazakhstan National team: - The reason of our defeat is first of all tiredness. We travelled 24 hours and arrived in Khanty-Mansiysk only this morning at 9.

     Frazer BICKLEY, head coach of the New Zealand National team: - We were under pressure knowing that Hungary was one of the strongest teams of the world. But at the same time their strength and experience let us learn a lot today.

     Anna ILLES, Hungarian team player: - The match turned out to be difficult. But all the team worked hard and we managed to win.

     Ryan WEIDERMAN, head coach of the South African team: - We came here not to win but to get some experience. We want to watch other teams and to measure up our chances.

     Anastasiya SKOVPINA, head coach of the National team of Uzbekistan: - Our team is the youngest at the tournament; we are getting ready for the future. By the next World Championship we will be well-prepared.

     Ilse SINDORF, head coach of the National team of the Netherlands: - The game was good; our girls were quick and exact. Our group is difficult as there are teams of the Netherlands, the USA and Russia in it. But if you want to win the tournament – you have to win each game. It doesn’t matter if it is a preliminary stage of a tournament or the final.

     Frank DIAZ, head coach of Brazil National team: - That was a hard game as we were under pressure of the Dutch team. We even had no chance to attack.

     Kyle UTSUMI, head coach of the USA team: - The atmosphere of the match was splendid; it was suitable for the event called the “World Championship”. We defeated but this game will be an excellent training for the main matches of the championship

     Mikhail NAKORYAKOV, head coach of the Russian team: - It was a very tense and splendid match, that can be a good promotion for this magnificent kind of sport as water polo.


Group «А»
     CANADA – GERMANY - 15:6 (3:1, 4:2, 4:0, 4:3)


Group «В»

AUSTRALIA – SPAIN -11:9 (1:2, 4:2, 5:4, 1:1)

ITALY – KAZAKHSTAN - 15:7 (6:1, 2:2, 5:1, 2:3)

Group «С»
     NEW ZEALAND – NUNGARY - 9:15 (2:4, 1:3, 3:3, 3:5)

     UZBEKISTAN - RSA - 8:15 (1:3, 3:3, 2:4, 2:5)


Group «D»
     BRAZIL – NETHRELANDS - 2:18 (1:5, 0:3, 0:5, 1:5)

     USA – RUSSIA - 11:15 (2:2, 3:5, 3:4, 3:4)