The women’s national teams of Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia tasted victory during the inaugural round of games of the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League 2015 Europe preliminaries taking place today, on November 25.
In Group A, Russia beat visiting Hungary, 2013 World bronze medallist, 13-11 on penalties (3-3, 1-2, 2-1, 3-3; penalties: 4-2) in Zlatoust. Meanwhile, Italy, 2014 World League runner-up, defeated France 12-5 (2-1, 3-0, 2-2, 5-2) in Frosinone.
In Athens, the home squad (Group B), 2011 World champions, lost to the Netherlands by just one goal, 11-12 (3-2, 2-4, 5-3, 1-3) while reigning World champions Spain crushed visiting Germany 18-6 (4-2, 4-0, 7-3, 3-1) in Barcelona.
The composition of the European Groups of the FINA Women’s World League 2015 is as follows:
GROUP A – France, Hungary, Italy, Russia
GROUP B – Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Spain
Provisional rankings:
GROUP A: ITA, 3 pts (1 win); RUS, 2 pts (1W); HUN, 1 pt (1 loss); FRA, 0 pt (1L)
GROUP B: ESP, 3 pts (1W); NED, 3 pts (1W); GER, 0 pt (1L); GER, 0 pt (1L)
Next round (December 16, 2014):
Group A: HUN-ITA (Szentes) & FRA-RUS (Montreuil)
Group B: NED-ESP (Utrecht) & GER-GRE (Krefeld)
The remaining rounds for Europe will be held on January 27, February 24, March 24 and April 21, 2015.
Water Polo News courtesy of FINA.
