The USA won its ninth title of the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League, which 2015 Super Final concluded successfully on Sunday June 14 in the Oriental Sport Centre of Shanghai, China. In the gold-medal match, the current Olympic champions and also World League winners in 2014 played Australia, bronze medalist at last year’s Super Final. The Americans triumphed in the decisive match by a tight 8-7.
The US started very strong by leading the first quarter with a conclusive 6-2, an advantage that was crucial for the rest of the game as Australia was better in the second (3-1) and fourth (2-1) periods.
The best scorers of the match from the winning team were Courtney Mathewson and Kaleigh Gilchrist, with two goals each.
The battle for the silver medal brought together the Netherlands, team who didn’t participate last year, and the tournament’s host, China. The Dutch proved too strong for the Asian squad, winning 10-5.
In the play-off for fifth and sixth places, Russia outscored Canada 16-8. Italy, second in 2014, beat Brazil 11-2, whose team closed the rankings.
The final ranking of the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League 2015 is as follows:
1. USA, 2. AUS, 3. NED, 4. CHN, 5. RUS, 6. CAN, 7. ITA, 8. BRA.
MEDALLISTS at previous FINA Women’s World Leagues
2004: 1. USA, 2. HUN, 3. ITA
2005: 1. GRE, 2. RUS, 3. AUS
2006: 1. USA, 2. ITA, 3. RUS
2007: 1. USA, 2. AUS, 3. GRE
2008: 1. RUS, 2. USA, 3. AUS
2009: 1. USA, 2. CAN, 3. AUS
2010: 1. USA, 2. AUS, 3. GRE
2011: 1. USA, 2. ITA, 3. AUS
2012: 1. USA, 2. AUS, 3. GRE
2013: 1. CHN, 2. RUS, 3. USA
2014: 1. USA, 2. ITA, 3. AUS
Swimming news courtesy of FINA.