It was Russia’s
natural progression in the championship and try as it might, Canada
could not overcome the early 3-0 deficit. Joelle Bekhazi kept her team
on the scoresheet with two of her four goals in the third quarter,
including a penalty strike.
Captain Ivanova now has 13 for the
championship but the real star is outside shooter Prokofyeva who is
comfortable with missiles, lobs and counter-attack goals. Her total
stands at 18 with four coming via the penalty line.
Canada converted
just one from three but also had another chance while Russia was
clinical in the man-up situation, converting six from eighth attempts.
That’s the sort of conversion rate any religion would be happy with.
The
religion here is water polo and extra-man attack is queen and could
well see Russia through to the final and possible the crown.
Canada worked tirelessly at centre forward and was rewarded with three goals — two to Katrina Monton.
When
it came to winning, Russia knows how to do it well, having just the one
blemish all championship with a 12-12 draw with Netherlands. Russia forced Canada into turnovers — 15 — as opposed to giving up six.
It was a
second loss for Canada to go with the 10-8 loss to United States of
America on day two. Canada will now play the round 5-8 semifinal on
Wednesday.
Russia has now won the last six matches against Canada at
major tournaments, but Canada had won five out of the six previous
encounters at World Championships.
Match 33: 15:30, Quarterfinal, RUSSIA 17 CANADA 9
Quarters: 5-2, 3-1, 4-3, 5-3
Referees: Axel Bender (GER), Nenad Peris (CRO).
Extra Man: RUS: 6/8. CAN: 1/3.
Pens: CAN: 1/1.
Teams:
RUSSIA: Anna Ustyukhina, Diana Antonova, Ekaterina Prokofyeva (4), Elvina Karimova (2), Alexandra Antonova (2), Olga Belova (2), Ekaterina Tankeeva (1), Anna Grineva, Anna Timofeeva, Olga Beliaeva (2), Evgeniya Ivanova (4), Ekaterina Zelentsova, Anna Karnaukh. Head Coach: Mikhail Nakoryakov.
CANADA: Michele Relton, Krystina Alogbo (1), Katrina Monton (2), Emma Wright (1), Monika Eggens (1), Sophie Baron La Salle, Joelle Bekhazi (4), Dominique Perrault, Carmen Eggens, Christine Robinson, Stephanie Valin, Marina Radu, Nicola Colterjohn. Head Coach: Guy Baker.
FLASH QUOTES:
Evgeniya Ivanova (RUS):
“We are very confident after our victory. We are stronger and playing a better tournament than I thought”
Olga Beliaeva (RUS):
“We had a good defence and speed. Today we reached the balance in our team and I trust that we are going to improve in the future, step by step. I know that we are able to win the gold medal.”
Krystina Alogbo (CAN):
“We are very disappointed because we have won the other matches very easily but in this game, we have made a lot of mistakes. The team can play better.”
Joelle Bekhazi (CAN):
“We played badly so we are very unsatisfied with the result. We made a lot of mistakes. This will serve a lesson for us. We expected to go home with a medal so this is a disappointment for us.”
Guy Baker (CAN Head Coach):
“We had too many turnovers in the first half, so it was very difficult to come back even though we played better. I am disappointed with the result, I have to speak to the girls in private. We have more matches ahead of us, so we still have a motivation to finish the tournament well. Our objective is to continue to improve for the next competitions.”