2011 14th FINA World Championships 16-31 July 2011 Shanghai CHN - Women's Water Polo

I'm curious how will Cuba play

Game 5, 15:00, Group C, BRAZIL 4 RUSSIA 15

Quarters: 1-6, 1-2, 2-2, 0-5

Referees: Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS), Radislav KORYZNA (POL)

Extra Man: BRA: 1/1. RUS: 3/9

Pen: BRA: 0/1

Teams:
BRAZIL: Tess OLIVEIRA, Cecilia CANETTI, Marina ZABLITH (1), Marina CANETTI (1), Marella COUTINHO, Izabella CHIAPPINI, Cristina BEER (1), Luiza CARVALHO (1), Fernanda LISSONI, Gabriela GOZANI, Maria Barbara AMARO, Gabriela DIAS, Manuela CANETTI. Head Coach: Roberto CHIAPPINI.

RUSSIA: Maria KOVTUNOVSKAYA, Nadezhda FEDOTOVA, Ekaterina PROKOFYEVA (2), Sofia KONUKH (3), Alexandra ANTONOVA (1), Natalia RYZHOVA-ALENICHEVA (1), Ekaterina LISUNOVA, Evgenia SOBOLEVA (3), Ekaterina TANKEEVA, Olga BELYAEVA (4), Evgenia IVANOVA (1), Yulia GAUFLER, Anna KANAUKH. Head Coach: Alexander KABANOV.

Russia comfortably secured maximum points from its clash with Brazil but head coach KABANOV was not happy at times in the manner Russia was going about its workload. Brazil disrupted the Russian flow but Russia hadt he game in hand by quarter time. Captain KONUKH was in the goals but it was BELYAEVA who topped the scoring with four, including a magnificent centre-forward sweep shot and a classy lob. Brazil fought to the end but it was Russia who made the space and scored some unattended goals.

Game 11 (W): 12:10, Group C, SPAIN 8 RUSSIA 18

Quarters: 1-4, 3-4, 3-6, 1-4

Referees: Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS), Marie-Claude DESLIERES (CAN)

Extra Man: ESP: 1/5. RUS: 3/3

Pen: ESP: 1/1

Teams:
SPAIN: Ava COPADO, Blanca GIL (2), Ana ESPAR, Helena LLORET, Matilde ORTIZ, Paula CHILLADA (2), Lorena MIRANDA, Pilar PENA, Andrea BLAS (1), Ona MESEGUER (1), M. Carmen GARCIA (2), Marta BACH, Laura ESTER. Head Coach: Miguel OCA.
RUSSIA: Maria KOVTUNOVSKAYA, Nadezhda FEDOTOVA (1) Ekaterina PROKOFYEVA (5), Sofia KONUKH (1), Alexandra ANTONOVA (1), Natalia RYZHOVA-ALENICHEVA (2), Ekaterina LISUNOVA (4), Evgenia SOBOLEVA (1), Ekaterina TANKEEVA (1), Olga BELYAEVA (1), Evgenia IVANOVA (1), Yulia GAUFLER, Anna KANAUKH. Head Coach: Alexander KABANOV.

Russia produced a stunning performance against a team expected to put up a closer score. With PROKOFYEVA in sparkling form with five goals to give her seven from two matches, the Russians were dominate everywhere and relished the counter-attack and cross-passing. PROKOFYEVA scored three of her collection in the opening quarter as Russia settled into a rhythm. While GIL brought it back to 2-4, PROKOFYEVA made it 5-2. GARCIA pulled one back, but by halftime, thanks to two LISUNOVA strikes, Russia had a four-goal advantage. LISUNOVA scored her third at 9-4 and by the final break Russia was 14-7 adrift of Spain. LISUNOVA and PROKOFYEVA added to the their tallies in the final quarter while the final say went to CHILLADA 20 seconds from time. Spain shot at 38% but Russia had an impressive 60% statistic.

Game 18 (W): 10:50, Group C, GREECE 6 RUSSIA 5

Quarters: 2-2, 1-1, 1-1, 2-1

Referees: Sergio BORRELL, Gyorgy JUHASZ (HUN)

Extra Man: GRE: 1/4. RUS: 2/5

Teams:
GREECE: Eleni KOUVDOU, Christina TSOUKALA, Antiopi MELIDONI, Ilektra Maria PSOUNI, Kyriaki LIOSI, Alkisti AVRAMIDOU, Alexandra ASIMAKI (1), Antigoni ROUMPESI (2), Angeliki GEROLYMOU (1), Triantafylla MANOLIOUDAKI, Stavroula ANTONAKOU (2), Georgia LARA, Eleni GOULA. Head Coach: Georgios MORFESIS.
RUSSIA: Maria KOVTUNOVSKAYA, Nadezhda FEDOTOVA, Ekaterina PROKOFYEVA, Sofia KONUKH (1), Alexandra ANTONOVA, Natalia RYZHOVA-ALENICHEVA, Ekaterina LISUNOVA (1), Evgenia SOBOLEVA (2), Ekaterina TANKEEVA, Olga BELYAEVA (1), Evgenia IVANOVA, Yulia GAUFLER, Anna KANAUKH. Head Coach: Alexander KABANOV.

Greece pulled off the first major upset of the tournament with a last-minute victory over Russia, a team that inexplicably lost to Italy in a prolonged penalty shootout at the recent FINA World League Super Final in Tianjin. There, Russia had to be content with fifth place when expected to fill a medal-final berth. All is not lost for Russia but it must now play the second round while Greece has the luxury of a few days off and a chance to prepare for the quarter-finals. While Greece opened the scoring, it was Russia who led the way with BELYAEVA on extra and SOBOLEVA from the top firing into the top left who took the lead. GEROLYMOU converted a penalty to close the first period. LISUNOVA gained Russia’s only counter-attack goal, scoring off a cross pass. ANTONAKOU drew level on extra. Captain KONUKH opened the second half with a long angled shot. Five minutes later ANTONAKOU played a similar shot for Greece. SOBOLEVA broke the deadlock at 3:11 in the fourth period with a shot from deep right on extra. With the game ticking away, ASIMAKI scored on extra at 1:34 and then on the next Greek attack drew a penalty on SOBOLEVA for ROUMPESI to settle the game 59 seconds from time. IVANOVA was left to satisfy Russia’s hunger for at least a point when BELYAEVA drew an exclusion foul but her shot hit the crossbar, leaving Greece to go to a timeout with six seconds remaining. The ball was passed back to the goalkeeper and the game was over with Greece gaining an historic victory.

23 July

Semifinals (13-16) Women 09:30 KAZ - UZB
Semifinals (13-16) Women 10:50 BRA - RSA

Quarterfinal Qualification Women 12:10 NED - NZL
Quarterfinal Qualification Women 15:30 HUN - AUS
Quarterfinal Qualification Women 16:50 RUS - CUB
Quarterfinal Qualification Women 21:00 ESP - CHN

25 July

Quarterfinals Women 14:00 USA - RUS/CUB
Quarterfinals Women 15:20 CAN - ESP/CHN
Quarterfinals Women 16:40 GRE - NED/NZL
Quarterfinals Women 21:00 ITA - HUN/AUS

World League 2011:

1. USA
2. Italy
3. Australia
4. China

World Cup 2010:

1. USA
2. Australia
3. China
4. Russia

World Championships 2009:

1. USA
2. Canada
3. Russia
4. Greece

Olympic Games 2008:

1. Netherlands
2. USA
3. Australia
4. Hungary

The Quarter-Finals Qualification Matches:
Russia - Cuba 26-4,
Australia - Hungary 10-9,
Netherlands - New Zeland 14-6,
China - Spain 15-6.

The Quarter-Finals:
USA - Russia
Canada - China
Greece - Netherlands
Italy - Australia

Game 29 (W), 16:50, 2C RUSSIA 26 3D CUBA 4

Quarter-final qualification round

Quarters: 5-1, 8-1, 6-1, 7-2

Referees: Guy PINKER (RSA), Kazuhiko MAKITA (JPN)

Extra Man: RUS: 5/11. CUB: 2/5

Pen: CUB: 1/1

Teams:
RUSSIA: Maria KOVTUNOVSKAYA, Nadezhda FEDOTOVA (1), Ekaterina PROKOFYEVA (4), Sofia KONUKH (3), Alexandra ANTONOVA (2), Natalia RYZHOVA-ALENICHEVA (2), Ekaterina LISUNOVA (5), Evgenia SOBOLEVA (4), Ekaterina TANKEEVA (1), Olga BELYAEVA (1), Evgenia IVANOVA (3), Yulia GAUFLER, Anna KANAUKH. Head Coach: Alexander KABANOV.
CUBA: Mairelis ZUNZUNEGUI, Daniela ESCALONA, Yeliana BRAVO, Hirovis HERNANDEZ (2), Danay GUTIERREZ, Mayelin BERNAL, Yanet LOPEZ, Yadira OMS, Dayana MORALES (1), Yordanka PUJOL, Lisbeth SANTANA (1), Neldys TRUFFIN, Arisney RAMOS. Head Coach: Francisco VEITIA.

Russia swam riot over Cuba in a mis-match in this second-round encounter. By halftime the game was well and truly over and Cuba had no answer to the stronger, faster, bigger, fitter and more experienced Russians who are looking for some redemption after failing to make the top four in Tianjin last month. Russian head coach KABANOV used his team wisely and spread them evenly, allowing most players to score. MORALES scored Cuba’s first goal at 2-1 but the next came at the top of the third when HERNANDEZ turned as the goalkeeper came out on her. She shot into an empty goal. She scored again on penalty at 21-3 while SANTANA opportunistically shot wide left from the top right to score at 23-4. LISUNOVA loved the bottom left to score and her five took her to 10 for the tournament. PROKOFYEVA joined a growing list of people on 11 with her four goals and SOBOLEVA’s four took her to 10. Russia will have a tantalising clash with world champion USA in the quarters while Cuba will play New Zealand for a place in the 9-10 play-off.

Game 35 (W), 14:00, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 7 RUSSIA 9

Group 1-8 Quarter-final

Quarters: 2-0, 3-2, 1-5, 1-2

Referees: Erhan TULGA (TUR), Torsten BOCK (GER) Extra Man: USA: 03/10. RUS: 1/11

Pen: USA: 0/1

Teams:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Elizabeth ARMSTRONG, Heather PETRI, Melissa SEIDEMANN, Brenda VILLA, Lauren WENGER, Margaret STEFFENS, Courtney MATHEWSON, Jessica STEFFENS, Elsie WINDES, Kelly RULON, Annika DRIES, Kameryn CRAIG, Tumuaialii ANAE. HEAD COACH: Adam KRIKORIAN.
RUSSIA: Maria KOVTUNOVSKAYA, Nadezhda FEDOTOVA (1) Ekaterina PROKOFYEVA (5), Sofia KONUKH (1), Alexandra ANTONOVA (1), Natalia RYZHOVA-ALENICHEVA (2), Ekaterina LISUNOVA (4), Evgenia SOBOLEVA (1), Ekaterina TANKEEVA (1), Olga BELYAEVA (1), Evgenia IVANOVA (1), Yulia GAUFLER, Anna KANAUKH. Head Coach: Alexander KABANOV.

Russia scored the biggest upset of the tournament with a magnificent victory over the USA. It was the end of a streak that spans back so far it needs checking. Three golds and a silver in the past four FINA World Championship. We have to look back to Fukuoka in Japan in 2001 when Canada beat the USA for bronze in a year that Italy won gold. No major medal for VILLA and PETRI, which is a rarity. The first time off the podium since Tianjin in 2006 at the FINA World Cup when Canada was again the destroyer for the bronze medal when Australia won. Is this an omen for the London Olympics where the USA is hooting for a fourth consecutive medal? Or it is just an aberration? The real aberration was Russia's trump card PROKOFYEVA, captain of the successful Russian team at the FINA World Championships two years again and tournament most valuable player. She's fast making a name for herself in senior ranks, scoring five goals in an amazing game of water polo. Amazing, because the USAwas in total command until midway through the second period at 4-0. LISUNOVA and WENGER traded goals and PROKOFYEVA scored her first from the top on extra to close the second quarter at 5-2. WENGER made it 6-2 on extra two minutes into the third and looked good for the USA. THEN! The landslide started. FEDOTOVA on extra; LISUNOVA on the right, PROKOFYEVA on the left, FEDOTOVA with a lob and PROKOFYEVA from eightr metres for the 7-
6 lead —five goasls in less than four minutes! PROKOFYEVA sent one into the top right and Russia had an 8-6 lead. USA took a timeout to no effect and it took until 1:32 to gain a penalty shot. STEFFENS shot left and KANAUKH blocked. MATHEWSON pounced on the ball and shot again, only for KANAUKH to send sideways. Russia called a timeout and PROKOFYEVA scored after an exclusion period with a shot from downtown for 9-6 at 0:47. USA took a timeout and the ploy was simple. RULON to take a foul and score from five metres. Hey Presto! Simple. 9-7. But the goal was the first USA movement on the scoreboard for more than 13 minutes. Too long. The dream was over. Russia, with three bronze medals — the last in Rome in 2009 — was on track for another. It's probably unfair to say it is an upset as Russia looked goon at the FINA World League Super Finals but lost just one game and finished fifth! Its time will come.

Game 37 (W): 15:20, GREECE 12 NETHERLANDS 10

Group 1-8 Quarter-final

Quarters: 3-4, 5-1, 2-3, 2-2

Referees: Mario BRGULJAN (MNE), Alan BALFANBAYEV (KAZ) Extra Man: GRE: 1/8. NED 4/13

Pens: GRE: 2/2

Teams:
GREECE: Eleni KOUVDOU, Christina TSOUKALA (2), Antiopi MELIDONI, Ilektra Maria PSOUNI, Kyriaki LIOSI (1), Alkisti AVRAMIDOU (1), Alexandra ASIMAKI, Antigoni ROUMPESI (3), Angeliki GEROLYMOU (2), Triantafylla MANOLIOUDAKI (1), Stavroula ANTONAKOU (2), Georgia LARA, Eleni GOULA. Head Coach: Georgios MORFESIS.
NETHERLANDS: Ilse VAN DER MEIJDEN, Yasemin SMIT (1), Frederike CABOUT (2), Biurakn HAKHVERDIAN (1), Catharina VAN DER SLOOT, Nomi STOMPHORST, Iefke VAN BELKUM (3), Robbin REMERS (2), Jantien CABOUT, Nienke VERMEER (1), Lieke KLAASSEN, Simone KOOT, Anne HEINIS. Head Coach: Mauro MAUGERI.

Greece was the seasoned team with the recent experience and form and should rightfully be in the top four. The Dutch had different ideas with a 2-0 start but at 3-4 down by quarter time, the Greeks were poised to pounce. Three straight Greek goals to start the second quarter had them 6-4 ahead. SMIT replied for the Dutch with a bounce shot but that was the last for a while. GEOLYMOU notched up a penalty goal and one on extra in just over a minute and the game was 8-5 at halftime.
Captain LIOSI with a nice turn on the right post and AVRAMIDOU on extra had the game at 10-5. Just before AVRAMIDOU's strike, the Dutch had an excellent extra-man chance but the shot smashed into the crossbar from two metres! F Mieke CABOUT started the comeback with her and REMERS scoring on extra inside half a a minute. VAN BELKUM scored off the left- post position and it was 10-8 at the last break. ROUMPESI nailed a penalty goal at the start of the fourth for some breathing space. Greece called a timeout to no avail. CABOUT scored again on extra at 2:39. The clock ticked down into the last minute and the large Orange supporter base fell silent. ROUMPESI scored on extra at 0:56 and head coach MORFESIS called two timeouts for no score. The Dutch went on to attack and VAN BELKUM scored at 0:19 but it was past the time for celebration.
Greece, a non-medal winner at World Championship level, was again in the top four and a chance to do better than fourth in Rome two years ago.

Game 38: 16:40, ITALY 14 AUSTRALIA 12 in penalty shootout (FT: 8-8. Pens: 5-3)

Group 1-8 Quarter-final

Quarters: 0-1, 4-0, 4-6 0-1, 0-1, 1-0. Pens: 5-3

Referees: Gyorgy JUHASZ (HUN), Sergio BORRELL (ESP)

Extra Man: ITA: 3/9. AUS: 0/7

Pens: ITA: 3/3

Teams:
ITALY: Giulia GOLERO, Simona ABBATE, Elisa CASANOVA, Francesca POMERI, Martina SAVIOLI, Allegra LAPI, Marta COLAIOCCO, Roberta BIANCONI, Giulia EMMOLO, Giulia RAMBALDI, Alessandra COTTI, Teresa FRASSINETTI, Elena GIGLI. Head Coach: Fabio CONTI.
AUSTRALIA: Alicia McCORMACK, Gemma BEADSWORTH, Sophie SMITH, Rebecca RIPPON, Jane MORAN, Bronwen KNOX (1), Rowena WEBSTER, Kate GYNTHER, Glencora RALPH, Holly LINCOLN-SMITH, Melissa RIPPON (1), Nicola ZAGAME (1), Victoria BROWN. Head Coach: Greg McFADDEN.

Four-time World Championships medallist and twice champion Italy beat Australia, one of only five countries to win the gold medal (the inaugural 1986 event in Madrid, Spain), in a penalty-shootout thriller. Australia was killed in the second quarter as Italy levelled on counter-attack three minutes into the period through SAVIOLI. EMMOLO then converted a penalty.

Australia called a timeout to no effect. SAVIOLI fired in Italy's second penalty goal. POMERI made it 4-1 from deep right.

ZAGAME stopped the rot early in the second quarter with a cross-cage shot. FRASSINETTI sent in a bouncer and BIANCONI scored on extra from the top. KNOX drove right and brought up 6-3. BIANCONI said "thank you" for another penalty shot and at 7-3 the game looked over for the Aussie Stingers. Rebecca RIPPON scored a chance shot off left-hand-catch and WEBSTER rocketed in a shot from outside for 7-5 by 3:1q9. It was game on. Italy had timeout to stop the momentum but a minute afterwards BEADSWORTH took the foul at centre forward, accepted the free pass and scored from three metres for 7- 6. BIANCONI responded with a shot after extra-man period, off the left post for 8-6 at 0:31. Australia was not done and RALPH sat up and shot from six metres for 8-7 at 0:06. Australia missed several counter chances at the top of the fourth and FRASSINETTI saw her turn shot at two metres hit the right post. Italy wanted to stifle the superior Australian momentum so took a timeout at 4:04. Australia missed an extra-man chance inside the last three minutes with a GORLERO save. Italy had the ball stolen by the incoming ejected player and the ball raced up to GYNTHER and then to BEADSWORTH on the right, who scored the equaliser at 1:50. Italy lost the ball on the next attack and Australia had its shot steered clear by GORLERO.

Australia had a timeout at 0:57. Australia moved the ball and BEADSWORTH gained an exclusion but the resulting shot by RALPH was blocked by GORLERO. Italy was smothered and the game went to extra time. Both teams had chances in the first period of extra time with the best BEADSWORTH's lob on drive going wide. The breakthrough came when Australia moved the ball around and at the end of possession time Rebecca RIPPON passed right to RALPH on six metres who rose and lobbed GORLERO at 0:24. The score was now 6-1 to Australia since midway through the third period. Australia won the swim-off again but could not shoot, such was the pressure and the ball wasted. FRASSINETTI gained an exclusion on WEBSTER and EMMOLO converted from the left-hand-catch position at 2:01. Australia turned the ball over. BIANCONI shot wide. GYNTHER had her shot tipped to the left by GORLERO so Australia used its timeout at 1:08. GYNTHER took the shot and sent in wide right, leaving Italy on attack with just over half a minute remaining. RALPH was ejected and Italy called a timeout at 0:25. In the penalty shootout, Italy started first and the seven opening shots were converted. RALPH had her shot blocked by GORLERO. FRASSINETTI made no mistake of her shot and Italy had advanced to the top four, leaving Australia to rattle around in the 5-8 positions.

Game 36 (W): 21:00, CANADA 7 CHINA 9

Quarters: 2-3, 2-2, 3-3, 0-1

Referees: Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE), Massimiliano CAPUTI (ITA)

Extra Man: CAN: 0/5. CHN: 0/9

Teams:
CANADA: Rachel RIDDELL, Krystina ALOGBO, Katrina MONTON, Emily CSIKOS (3), Joelle BEKHAZI (1), Whitney GENOWAY, Stephanie VALIN, Dominique PERREAULT (3), Monika EGGENS, Christine ROBINSON, Tara CAMPBELL, Marina RADU, Marissa JANSSENS. Head Coach: Pat OATEN.
CHINA: YANG Jun, TENG Fei, LIU Ping (2), SUN Yujun (2), HE Jin, SUN Yating (3), SONG Donglun, CHEN Yuan, WANG Yi (1), MA Huanhuan (1), SUN Huizi, ZHANG Lei, WANG Ying. Head Coach: Juan JANE GIRALT.
In the clash of the non-Europeans, which would guarantee one in the top four and make a change from recent years, China proved the bigger success. It's a meteoric rise for a team that won bronze in last year's FINA World Cup in New Zealand.
China finished 11th in Rome two years ago so a top-four finish puts the team on track to its bigger quest — Olympic gold next year. There was not much in the game with goals traded in the first quarter, starting with SUN Yujun's shot from deep left. LIU did some damage with identical shots off cross passes to the far post at about the four-metre line to close at 3-2.
BEHAZI and CSIKOS traded goals with MA and SUN Yating. China still had the advantage taking the lead goal each time. There was only a slight variation in the third period but Canada's tactic to shut down MA, who had 15 goals going into the game, was working despite the heavily guarded effort into the top left for 4-3. CSIKOS and PERREAULT caught up while SUN Yating and WANG made it 7-6. SUN Yujun scored an excellent goal from deep right while charging in to go 8-6 ahead at 1:42.
Canada called a timeout and PERREAULT was the shooter from the top right at the end of extra. China held an 8-7 advantage heading into the final period of the day. Canada used two timeouts for no success. SUN Yating scored on extra off the near post at 4:37 for 7-9. After the second Canada timeout, it had another extra but needed to shoot quickly. The shot came from the wrong option at bottom right. Neither team gained any further benefit and China was through to the top four at a FINA World Championships for the first time. Canada's hopes of repeat of 2009 when it came within a whisker of the gold medal.

Game 47 (W): 16:00, RUSSIA 8 ITALY 7

Classification 3rd & 4th (Bronze Medal)

Quarters: 4-0, 2-1, 2-6, 0-0

Referees: Gyorgy JUHASZ (HUN), Steven ROTSART (USA)

Extra Man: RUS: 3/12. ITA: 0/13

Pens: ITA: 1/1

Teams:
RUSSIA: Maria KOVTUNOVSKAYA, Nadezhda FEDOTOVA, Ekaterina PROKOFYEVA (2), Sofia KONUKH (2), Alexandra ANTONOVA, Natalia RYZHOVA-ALENICHEVA (1), Ekaterina LISUNOVA, Evgenia SOBOLEVA, Ekaterina TANKEEVA, Olga BELYAEVA (3), Evgenia IVANOVA, Yulia GAUFLER, Anna KANAUKH. Head Coach: Alexander KABANOV.
ITALY: Giulia GOLERO, Simona ABBATE (1), Elisa CASANOVA (2), Francesca POMERI, Martina SAVIOLI (1), Allegra LAPI, Marta COLAIOCCO, Roberta BIANCONI (2), Giulia EMMOLO, Giulia RAMBALDI, Alessandra COTTI, Teresa FRASSINETTI (1), Elena GIGLI. Head Coach: Fabio CONTI.

Russia wanted to make up for finishing outside the medal round at the recent FINA World League Super Final in Tianjin. With an unblemished opening quarter reaping four goals and a fifth without response early in the second period, Russia had a foundation for success. The silver (or bronze) lining had been laid. Italy awoke to the game too late. It is tough to give up five goals and expect to win. However, that deficit inspired the team and the mood of the match and the crowd changed as goals started flowing. A 6-2 third period to the Italians brought the game to life and set up a fine climax. PROKOFYEVA and captain KONUKH led the way for Russia with two goals each in the first quarter. BELYAEVA scored an unusual counter-attack goal after she was left stranded in the Italian half only for a team-mate to steal the ball and toss it upfield. She turned and scored for 5-0. On the next attack Italian captain CASANOVA backhanded a shot at centre forward. Italy took a timeout but no score and two minutes later RHYZOVA-ALENICHEVA found herself unguarded deep right to score for 6-1, the halftime score. What followed was almost a massacre. BIANCONI scored down the left lane; FRASSINETTI traded goals with BELYAEVA from two metres; BIANCONI scored from the penalty line and BELYAEVA muscled in a goal for 8-4 at just 5:38. CASANOVA, who had earned a couple of ejections earlier, once again scored with a backhand for 8-5. Italy called time when KONUKH gained her
third exclusion and the resulting play saw SAVIOLI score after the excluded player returned to the pool. Less than a minute later ABBATE scored her ninth goal of the tournament with a bounce shot on the left-hand-catch position. The score was now 8-7. Italy was back and raring to go. With the clock moving into the last two minutes, four Russians and two Italians had finished the match. BIANCONI had a shot tipped over the back line at a time when head coach CONTI gained a yellow card. On the next attack BIANCONI was free as a bird after a drive left but RAMBALDI shot high. On the Russian attack, CASANOVA was ejected and gained a suspension foul on the way out. Russia called a timeout at 0:18 and played the ball around to win
its fourth bronze medal at this level. Russia’s extra-man count, scoring three as opposed to Italy’s none, proved crucial.