The team of Australia won the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League Intercontinental Tournament, held in Davis (California, USA) from May 2-7, winning the USA in the decisive match of the competition by 10-7. In the bronze medal game, Canada defeated Japan by 5-2, both teams also earning their place in the Super Final of the 2017 World League, to be staged in Shanghai (CHN). The eight teams qualified for the final tournament of the competition are: Australia, Canada, China (as host), Hungary, Japan, Netherlands, Russia and USA.
In California, the Australian squad was always in the lead in the last encounter, but the hosts managed to tie at 7-7 with three minutes to go. The Aussies then scored three unanswered goals for the final outcome at 10-7. Before the last day, the North Americans had won all their five matches, while Australia had precisely suffered one loss, against USA (after a penalty shootout). Besides winning the tournament, Rowie Webster (AUS) was also the best scorer (18 goals), with Melissa Seidemann (USA) being elected the Most Valuable Player in Davis.
The best goalkeeper of the competition was Canada’s Jessica Gaudreault. She was pivotal for the success in the last encounter of the tournament, contributing to the victory of her team against Japan by 5-2.
In the match for places 5-6, Kazakhstan was better than China, winning the game by 14-7.
For the 2017 Super Final, to be organised from June 6-11 in Shanghai, the USA are still the team to beat: the North Americans are the reigning Olympic and world champions, and have won all the World League editions since 2009, with the exception of 2013!
Final ranking of the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League Intercontinental Tournament 2017: 1. Australia; 2. USA; 3. Canada; 4. Japan; 5. Kazakhstan; 6. China.