As if it were a wink of fate, the women’s water polo team entered the final of the Fukuoka World Cup, beating Australia, the country they defeated to win gold ten years ago in the Barcelona event, the only time the Spanish water polo players have been world champions. Now, the last obstacle to glory will be the Netherlands (Friday at 11 am), precisely the rival against whom Miki Oca’s men lost on the first day. The national team, however, no longer takes the medal, the eleventh of this group in a major tournament, and neither does the ticket to Paris 2024, their fourth consecutive Olympic Games.
Since that historic day in the Picornell pool, Spain has always beaten the oceans. On this occasion, victory could only be enjoyed with one minute to go. He was able to sentence Nona Pérez before and later in a superiority attack, but finally it was Bea Ortiz who put an insurmountable advantage of three goals. Arancini, now without options for the Aussies, scored the final 10-12.
The Spanish forged the victory in an excellent first quarter. Elena Ruiz, chosen the best of the match, with four goals to her credit, opened the scoring and was seconded by the buoy Paula Leitón and Judith Forca, Spain’s top scorer in the tournament with 18 goals, two against the Australians, the second especially beautiful Vaseline. Ortiz extended the lead to three goals at the end of the first eight minutes (2-5) and Spain no longer allowed the score to adjust again.
The Australians, a more physical rival, were handcuffed by the great Spanish choral defense. Those of Paul Oberman only stayed in the game thanks to his superiority, quite the opposite of Spain, more erratic when they had one more player. Six of the ten goals of the oceanic came with Spanish inferiority and another two were from penalties, the first of them at the edge of a second quarter in which they cut the difference to two goals (6-8).
Spain only suffered with the defense of the Australian buoys, a fight that claimed the final expulsions of Paula Camus before the break and Paula Crespí in the final period. The third quarter could not have started in a better way for Miki Oca’s men, with two goals from Elena Ruiz that put the maximum advantage (6-10). The game seemed to break, but Australia increased the intensity, raising the contact in individual defense, and the Spanish lost their freshness in attack.
Spain, already seasoned in a thousand battles of this entity, did not get nervous and hid behind while in the offensive field it played with control, always looking for the best option and avoiding losses, as an expert Anni Espar blurted out to her teammates before the final stake. .
With 8-10 on the scoreboard, thanks to another two goals in superiority, one of them from a successful Tilly Kearns, the oceanic lost the opportunity to get close to a goal before a last quarter that began with a goal from the buoy Maica García ( 8-11).
Spain was able to sentence then, but the second penalty in favor of the Aussies, converted by Williams, reduced the deficit to two goals. Fatigue caused errors to take over the Marina Messe pool. With four minutes to go, the attacks followed one another without success. Australia, more precipitated, rushed its options until finally waved the white flag against a Spain that will play its fourth World Cup final, the third in the last four editions.
Australia: Palm; Halligan (1p), Abby Andrews (1), Ridge (-), Arancini (2), Williams (2, 1p), Kearns (3) -equipo inicial-, Pontre (-), Armit (1), Swalding (-), Leeson-Smith (-), Charlize Andrews (-)
Spain: Terre; Nona Pérez (-), Paula Crespí (-), Elena Ruiz (4.1p), Judith Forca (2), Anni Espar (-), Maica García (2) -initial team-, Paula Leitón (1), Cristina Nogué (-), Pili Peña (-), Bea Ortiz (2) and Paula Camus (1).
Partials: 2-5, 4-3, 2-2, 2-2.
Referees: Stavridis (GRE) and Mc Call (USA). Eliminated: Paula Camus and Paula Crespí.
Incidents: Second semifinal of the women’s water polo tournament, played at the Marina Messe pool in Fukuoka.