The women’s international water-polo tournament held at the Joan Harrison complex, East London, came to an end on Wednesday night with Russia unsurprisingly taking first place. They beat South Africa 21-1 in the final, in a game whose fate was sealed by the end of the first quarter.
Russia put the first goal on the board just 20 seconds into the match, with their second coming before the first minute was out. A subsequent flood of goals took them to the break with eight goals in the bag.
South Africa battled to gain any possession in the first quarter and had only a single goal opportunity, with Marcelle Keet’s shot being saved by Russian goalkeeper Vorobeva Aleksandra.
The second quarter saw South Africa enjoying decidedly more possession, but still no goals, apart from the six scored by Russia, who scored four more goals in the third quarter and another three in the last. South Africa’s goal came from captain Nicky Poulos early in the last quarter, but it served as nothing more than a bittersweet consolation.
Russian coach Sobolov Alexei was impressed with his team’s performance, and also with the tournament as a whole.
”The organisation was very good and the facilities here are excellent. East London and Swimming South Africa both deserve a big thank you,” he said.
Although some of the teams were not very successful as far as winning matches goes, ”the real success is that they played with enthusiasm and passion — that is a victory for water polo”, said Gianni Lonzi, chairperson of the Technical Waterpolo Committee of the World.
Australia won the playoff for third place against Sweden 9-7, and South Africa Under-20 beat South Africa B 6-2 to take fifth place.
The player of the tournament, announced at the closing ceremony last night, was Olga Fomicheva, who scored more goals than any other player.
The men’s interprovincial final was an infinitely more exciting affair than the women’s, with Central Gauteng and SA Under-20 playing do-or-die water polo, holding each other to eight goals each at the final whistle, taking the game into extra time.
Possession was switched on a regular basis and marking was tight throughout the game, neither side willing to budge an inch for the other. Central Gauteng proved to have the most staying power and put away three goals in extra time to claim the game 11-8.
Karl Niehaus was instrumental in the victory, scoring five of the goals, and was named player of the tournament. — Sapa