WP 20 & U (W): USA gets the gold in Volos (GRE)

Lausanne (SUI), POLO AIR (August 26, 2013) – The team of USA won the FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships, organised in Volos (GRE) from August 19-25, 2013. In the decisive game of the competition, the North Americans triumphed over Spain by 9-7. The Iberians were the 2011 champions, and at senior level had also lost to the North Americans in the 2012 Olympic final, clinching however the world title at the recent 15th FINA World Championships in Barcelona (ESP). For USA, this result was a huge improvement compared with the eighth place two years ago in the Junior World Championships.

The bronze medal went to the host team of Greece, who defeated Russia by 7-6 in a thrilling match defining the third and fourth position. The Hellenic squad was sixth in 2011, while the Russians had also stayed at the podium’s door two years ago in Trieste (ITA).

Italy and Hungary fought for the fifth place, with the Italians clearly dominating by 10-6, and Australia got the seventh spot by winning 14-3 over Great Britain.

The complete ranking of the Championships in Volos was:

FINAL RANKING

1.	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA)
2.	SPAIN (ESP)
3.	GREECE (GRE)

4. RUS; 5. ITA; 6. HUN; 7. AUS; 8. GBR; 9. CAN; 10. NZL;

11. UZB; 12. UKR; 13. BRA; 14. KAZ; 15. RSA

In individual terms, the best player of the tournament was Rachel Fattal (USA), while her teammate Ashleigh Johnson earned the prize for the best goalkeeper. As for the most goals (23) of the tournament, they were scored by Spain’s Roser Tarrago Aymerich.