WPWL Super Final, Shanghai Day 5: Spain to face the US in the final

Spain won a hard battle against Australia (10-8) today and managed to get a spot in the final facing the defending champion USA. The latter beat China 11-5 during the semifinals at the 2016 FINA Women's Water Polo World League Super Final here in Shanghai on Saturday.

Russia and Italy will fight for the fifth place and Canada and Brazil race for the seventh place on Sunday,

Game 17: CANADA 4 RUSSIA 15
Quarters: 0-4, 0-4, 1-3, 3-4

CANADA: Jessica Gaudreault, Krystina Alogbo (Captain), Axelle Creview, Emma Wright (1), Monika Eggens (1), Kelly McMee, Joelle Bekhazi, Kyra Christmas (2), Hayley MeKelvey, Kelly Matthews, Elyse Lemay-Lavoie, Shae Fournier, Claire Wright.
Head coach: David Faradelo

RUSSIA: Anna Ustyukhina, Tatiana Zubkova (1), Ekaterina Prokofyeva (2), Nadezhda Glyzina (2), Maria Borisova (2), Olga Gorbunova (2), Kseniia Krimer, Anastasia Simanovich (1), Anna Timofeeva (1), Evgeniya Soboleva (2), Evgeniya Ivanova (1), Anna Grineva (1), Anna Karnaukh.
Head coach: Alexander Gaidukov

Olga Gorbunova set up the shooting mode for Russia after 30 seconds of the game and her teammates continued to rule the game before Emma Wright found the net for Canada at 34 seconds left in the third quarter for 1-11. Russia also improved the Extra-Man Goals by collecting 5 points out of 8. A total of ten Russians scored while three Canadians scored during this game.

Quotes:

David Faradelo - CAN: "We are here for learning and to progress. We should have played our best but we did not. We need to improve on every aspect, especially the defense. We were not strong enough but we can't be so behind like this. That was too much. We should work on that. We tried to come back but our shots were unsucessful though we had many chances. We have a lot of work to do in the next few years. It does not work in one day."

Andrei Belofastov -RUS: "We are happy that we won this game! Now we can fight for the fifth place. We played a fast game with quick attacks and good defense. The best part of today's game was that we did not waste chances and played well on the extra-man with 5 scores and 1 penalty score."

Game 18: ITALY 7 BRAZIL 6
Quarters: 1-4, 1-0 4-1, 1-1

ITALY: Gorlero Giulia, Tabani Chiara, Garibotti Arianna, Giulia Gorlero, Federica Radicchi, Rossaria Alello (1), Di Mario Tania (1), Bianconi Roberta (4), Emmolo Giulia Enrica, Francesca Pomeri, Cotti Aleksandra (1), Laura Barzon, Teani Laura.
Head Coach: Fabio Conti

BRAZIL: Tess Oliveira, Diana Abla, Marinate Zablith（Captain), Camila Pedrosa (1), Lucianne Barroncas, Izabella Chiappini (3), Amanda Oliveria, Luiza Carvalho, Melani Dias (1), Viviane Bahia (1), Mariana Duarte, Gabriela Mantellato, Victoria Chamorro.
Head coach: Patrick Oaten

Brazil started high as Izabella Chiappini collected the first goal of the game at 32 seconds and added two more in the first quarter while Melani Dias scored one goal to help Brazil a 4-2 lead. Italy rallied back from the third quarter by having 4 shots and tied 4-4, 5-5 before led for the first time 6-5. Both teams began defensive with just one goal for each in the last period.

Quotes: 

Fabio Conti - ITA: "Congratulations to Brazil, they played every game and every moment like an Olympic final. They have a good mentality. While we were not in our best physical condition and made some mistakes in the defense today. I want to see more mental power from my players in tomorrow's game against Russia."

Patrick Oaten - BRA: "We started with an early lead, but we still need to learn how to play when the pressure is tighter. We should not have second guesses and should do what we had talked during the pre-meet meeting. We should learn how to play a complete game, not just only one or two quarters. We were still nervous to shoot at the beginning and when they felt the game was close and they got the chance to win. We started to hesitate then. It was the best game we played in the Super Final. Tomorrow we will play Canada. It will be a tough one."

Game 19 SPAIN 10 AUSTRALIA 8
Quarters: 3-4, 1-0, 3-3, 3-1

SPAIN: Ester Ramos Laura, Marta Bach, Anna Espar (1), Beatriz Ortiz (2), Matilde Ortiz, Paula Leiton, Clara Espar, Pilar Pena (Captain), Judith Forca (2), Roser Tarrago (3), Maica Garcia, Laura Lopez (2), Elena Sanchez.
Head coach: Miguel Oca

AUSTRALIA: Lea Yanitsas, Gemma Beadsworth, Hannah Buckling (1), Bronte Halligan, Keesja Gofers, Bronwen Knox (Captain), Rowie Webster (3), Glencora Mcghie (2), Zoe Arancini, Ashleigh Southern (1) , Isobel Bishop (1), Nicola Zagame, Kelsey Wakefield.
Head coach: Greg McFadden

A breath-taking game which saw both teams changed the lead by just one goal difference from the beginning and had ties for eight times during the whole game. Roser Tarrago of Spain opened the gate first at 26 seconds 1-0 and Rowie Webster of Australia tied 1-1 two minutes later. Spain was 7-8 behind in the fourth quarter at first but managed a strong comeback by scoring 3 goals in a row for the ticket to Sunday's final thanks to Anna Espar, Roser Tarrago and Beatriz Ortiz, respectively.

Quotes:

Miguel Oca-ESP: "We knew the team of Australia is very strong, both physically and technically. We knew it was a hard battle that we were well prepared. We tried our best and won a defensive game."

Gred McFadden-AUS: "A very disappointing game. We did not play our best as some of my players were not in good condition. And we had some problems on the attacks. We did not play very in the last quarter which should change the results opposite. I am very disappointed."

Game 20: CHINA 5 USA 11
Quarters: 1-3, 1-2, 2-2, 1-4

CHINA: Yang Jun, Ma Huanhuan (2）, Mei Xiaohan, Xiong Dunhan, Niu Guannan (1), Sun Yating (Captain), Lu Yiwen, Lishujin, Zhao Zihan (1), Zhang Weiwei, Wang Xinyan, Zhang Jing (1), Peng Lin. Head coach: Ricardo Azevedo

USA: Samanth Hill, Madeline Musselman, Melissa Seidemann (1), Rachel Fattal (2), Alys Williams (2), Margaret Steffens (Captain, 1), Courtney Mathewson, Kiley Neushul (1), Aria Fischer, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Makenzie Fisher (1), Kameryn Craig, Ashleigh Johnson.
Head coach: Adam Krikorian

Both teams played the game in a gentle way that produced four exclusion fouls each. USA led 3-0 less than five minutes before China scored one goal to make it 3-1 in the first period. USA slowed down the shooting pace in the middle of the race and powered in the last quarter with 4 goals. Four American players scored 2 goals as Rachel Fattal, Alys Williams, Makenzie Fisher and Kameryn Craig, respectively while veteran Ma Huanhuan was the only Chinese players offered 2 goals.

Quotes:

Ricardo Azevedo - CHN: "It was a great game though two of my kep players were absent, as Song Donglun broke her right thumb yesterday and the doctor suggested her to rest for at least one day and Zhang Cong had a 39 fever. It left the chances to the younger players and changed the 20-year-old Peng Lin as the goal keeper to replace the veteran goalie Yang Jun. We tried something difference worked out today that we were 4-7 into the fourth quarter before we made some mistakes in the defense. That really boost our confidence. I am happy with the way my girls played and the results."

Adam Krikorian - USA: "Team China played very well today. We did a good job defensively and met some problems in offense."