WPWL Super Final, Shanghai Day 3: USA, Australia remain unbeaten

USA claimed a difficult victory over Spain 12-10, while Australia took control in the game against Italy 13-7 on the third day of FINA Women's Water Polo World League Super Final 2016 here in Shanghai on Thursday.

After three straight group victories, USA and Australia top in each Group. On Friday, USA will play Russia, Australia will meet Brazil, China will face Canada and Italy will challenge Spain in the marks.

Game 9 : SPAIN 10 USA 12
Quarters: 3-4, 3-4, 2-2, 2-2

SPAIN: Ester Ramos Laura, Marta Bach, Irene Lopez, Beatriz Ortiz (4), Matilde Ortiz, Paula Leiton, Clara Espar (1), Pilar Pena (Captain, 1), Judith Forca, Roser Tarrago (1), Maica Garcia (2), Laura Lopez (1), Fernandez Patricia
Head coach: Miguel Oca

USA: Samanth Hill, Madeline Musselman (1), Alys Williams, Rachel Fattal (1), Caroline Clark (2), Margaret Steffens (Captain, 3), Courtney Mathewson, Kiley Neushul (4), Aria Fischer (1), Kaleigh Gilchrist, Makenzie Fisher, Kameryn Craig, Ashleigh Johnson.
Head coach: Adam Krikorian

USA kept winning streak after three group matches as they nailed down the offensive Spain team 12-10. Spain started to fire at 3:12 and USA added one 20 seconds later. USA took the lead from 2-1 and dominated for the whole game. But Spain tried hard to close the gap as Laura Lopez hit the last goal with 26 seconds left of the game. Beatriz Ortiz (ESP) and Kiley Neushul (USA) shared the top scorer place with 4 goals of each.

Quotes:

Miguel Oca (ESP): "We played the best we could. USA is a very strong team, we did our best and fought until the last moment. We would take every opportunity to shoot, no matter if we are 20 points ahead or 20 points behind. We just did the best we could."

Adam Krikorian (USA): "We played better than yesterday when we were against Canada, but we still need to improve our defense. I think we could reach our best form if we could play one hundreds matches before Rio Olympic Games. There are four veterans who competed in the Olympic Games before in my team while most of them are young players. The youngest one is 17 years old while the eldest is 29."

Game 10 : ITALY 7 AUSTRALIA 13
Quarters: 1-3, 2-3, 2-3, 2-4

ITALY: Gorlero Giulia, Tabani Chiara (3), Garibotti Arianna (1), Giulia Gorlero, Palmieri Mariagrazia, Federica Radicchi,
Rossaria Alello, Di Mario Tania (1), Bianconi Roberta (1), Emmolo Giulia Enrica (1), Francesca Pomeri, Cotti Aleksandra, Frassinetti Teresa, Teani Laura.
Head Coach: Fabio Cont

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

Australia dominated the game from the beginning as the Captain Bronwen Knox shot first after 2 minutes. Rowie Bebster and Holly Lincoln-Smith added two more 3-1 while Italy opened the score by Bianconi Roberta with 9 seconds left of the first quarter. Australia continued shooting run with fast swim from different angles as Glencora McGhie chopped up the last goal at 2:25, finishing the game 13-7.

Quotes:

Fabio Conti (ITA): "A very hard game that we played with one of the strongest teams. For us, it is important to stay in the game until the second quarter. Then we had no more many power later on. We are getting better each day since we arrived in China and we will be ready for the Rio Olympic Games in two months. Today we made some little mistakes in the defense that we can do better in the next game. We will collect all the information from the Super Final when we are back to home."

Greg McFadden (AUS): "We played very well from the start to the finish. We were well-controlled of the game. we attacked very well and defended very well. I am very satisfied with them. I think that was the best we played of the Super Final so far. Hopefully we can be better. We have two girls to compete in their third Olympic Games and four girls in their second Olympics. We got some experienced and young players. The youngest one is 19 years old and the eldest is the Captain Bronwen Knox who is 30."

Game 11 : CANADA 16 BRAZIL 4
Quarters: 3-1, 3-0, 5-1, 5-2

CANADA: Jessica Gaudreault, Krystina Alogbo (Captain, 2), Axelle Creview, Emma Wright (3), Monika Eggens (1), Kelly McMee (2), Joelle Bekhazi (3), Elyse Lemay-Lavoie, Hayley MeKelvey, Kelly Matthews (2), Kindred Paul, Shae Fournier (3), Claire Wright .
Head coach: David Faradelo

BRAZIL: Tess Oliveira, Diana Abla, Marinate Zablith（Captain, 1), Camila Pedrosa, Lucianne Barroncas, Lzabella Chiappini, Amanda Oliveria, Luiza Carvalho, Melani Dias (1), Viviane Bahia, Mariana Duarte, Gabriela Mantellato (2), Victoria Chamorro.
Head coach: Patrick Oaten

Canada took the control of the game from the beginning to the end and never looked back, leading 3-1, 3-0, 5-1,5-2. Emma Wright, Joelle Bekhazi and Shae Fournier all scored three goals for Canada. Brazilians seemed rusty in shooting and slow in swimming. Gabriela Mantellato fired two goals for Brazil in the last period. 

Quotes:

David Faradelo (CAN): "The girls played the game plan and followed what we have to do. It looked very solid for the next few game. Everything went well and they were doing what we were asking and succeeding. We can not ask more. However, the best is yet to come. It is only the first time they work together as a team as they just formed for three weeks. It is the first international event they played. They trained in universities and pro leagues in Canada, USA and in Europe. We are at the beginning of the four year cycle of the Olympic Games. We are just improving to get better for the 2020 Olympics since we did not qualify for the Rio Games."

Patrick Oaten (BRA): "I am embarrassed as my girls did not want to play the game today. They did not listen to me and did not follow the game plan. When a team does not listen, it results into problems. You can't be scared to shoot the ball, scared to block
or scared to make mistakes. They were hesitating to shoot. If you were scared to shoot here in the Super Final, how will you be able to shoot in front of your home crowd in Rio Olympic Games?
We have to solve this problem in the next 24 hours. We have a lot of work to do. The effort level of our players today was very bad."

Game 12 : CHINA 9 RUSSIA 8
Quarters: 2-1, 4-2, 1-2, 2-3

CHINA: Yang Jun, Ma Huanhuan (1), Mei Xiaohan (1), Xiong Dunhan, Niu Guannan (1), Sun Yating (Captain), Song Doonglun (1), Zhang Cong (1), Zhao Zihan (1), Li Shujin, Wang Xinyan (2), Zhang Jing (1), Peng Lin.
Head coach: Ricardo Azevedo

RUSSIA：Anna Ustyukhina, Tatiana Zubkova, Ekaterina Prokofyeva, Nadezhda Glyzina (3), Maria Borisova (1), Olga Gorbunova (1), Kseniia Krimer, Evgeniia Abdriziakova, Anna Timofeeva (1), Evgeniya Soboleva (1), Evgeniya Ivanova (1), Anna Grineva, Anna Karnaukh.
Head coach: Alexander Gaidukov

China snatched their first score after 30 seconds and started high in the first half, leading 2-1, 4-2 but faded a little bit in the second half. The Russians made a strong comeback especially in the last quarter when Nedezhda Glyzina scored two goals in a row and Maria Borisova added one goal to seal the final score to 8. Russia lost their three group matches, by one goal each time.

Quotes:

Ricardo Azevedo (CHN): "I am very proud of my girls, the way they did in the last period, hitting the big shots. They did better than yesterday. They were improving. We made some mistakes in the defense, but the defense in the last quarter was amazing. They were moving and pushing because we were tired. I am also happy that they came back from yesterday's loss. I think we still need to work on the third period as we rushed something."

Andrei Belofastov (RUS, Assistant coach): "We played much better than yesterday. It was a good practice before the Rio. Today we were bad on the extra-man, but much better on the defense. We lost one goal for three times in a row in our three group matches. We made some changes and got stronger in the third and fourth quarters while we were usually weak. We need to play a stable game throughout the four quarters."