FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships
- Sept. 9-15, 2019
- Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal
- Venue: Funchal Olympic Pools Complex
- Competitors: 16 teams
After four days of preliminary round pool play, the United States, the Netherlands, Russia and Greece topped the four groups, earning them free passes to Friday’s quarterfinal round.
Russia and Greece each went 3-0, while the USA and the Netherlands each went 2-0-1, tying their respective first match of pool play.
The four last place teams dropped into the 13th through 16th place seeding matches set for Thursday, while the remaining eight teams were pitted in playoff matches, to determine the quarterfinalists.
Pool A
In Pool A, Hungary led the group in scoring with 29 goals, but it was the Americans who took first place with a 2-0-1 record. After tying Japan in its opener, Team USA followed with slim wins over Hungary and Australia.
Ryann Neushul put in nine goals to pace the Americans.
| Sept. 9 | Hungary def. Australia 10-9 |
| USA tied Japan 11-11 | |
| Sept. 10 | Australia def. Japan 11-10 |
| USA def. Hungary 8-7 | |
| Sept. 11 | Hungary def. Japan 12-10 |
| USA def. Australia 9-8 |
- USA 2-0-1
- Hungary 2-1-0
- Australia 1-1-1
- Japan 0-3
Pool B
Netherlands started the competition with a 12-all tie against Spain, rallying after falling behind 4-2 in the opening quarter. From there, the Dutch dominated the competition to clinch the group.
Spain was the top scorer in the group with 48 goals, while the Netherlands put in 47 scores. Simone Van de Kraats netted 15 goals to lead the group individually.
| Sept. 9 | Netherlands tied Spain 12-12 |
| Brazil def. Kazakhstan 15-10 | |
| Sept. 10 | Spain def. Kazakhstan 22-5 |
| Netherlands def. Brazil 19-7 | |
| Sept. 11 | Spain def. Brazil 14-3 |
| Netherlands def. Kazakhstan 16-4 |
- Netherlands 2-0-1
- Spain 2-0-1
- Brazil 1-2-0
- Kazakhstan 0-3
Pool C
The defending World Juniors Champions from Russia outscored their foes 59-15 to claim the top spot in Pool C. Margarita Pystina led the way with 15 goals across the three wins.
| Sept. 9 | Italy def. South Africa 16-10 |
| Russia def. Portugal 24-3 | |
| Sept. 10 | Russia def. Italy 14-11 |
| South Africa def. Portugal 13-5 | |
| Sept. 11 | Russia def. South Africa 21-1 |
| Italy def. Portugal 18-4 |
- Russia 3-0
- Italy 2-1
- South Africa 1-2
- Portugal 0-3
Pool D
Greece followed the lead of Eleni Elliniadi, who put in nine of the team’s 39 goals, en route to a 3-0 record and a spot in the quarterfinals.
| Sept. 9 | Greece def. New Zealand 15-9 |
| China def. Canada 12-9 | |
| Sept. 10 | China def. New Zealand 13-7 |
| Greece def. Canada 16-9 | |
| Sept. 11 | Greece def. China 8-6 |
| Canada def. New Zealand 8-4 |
- Greece 3-0
- China 2-1
- Canada 1-2
- New Zealand 0-3
Top Scorers (Pool Play)
In the first 24 matches of play, there were 69 efforts of a hat trick or better.
The Netherlands’ Simone Van de Kraats racked up 15 goals as the Dutch went 3-0 including one of two six-goal performances. Greece’s Eleni Elliniadi also netted a six-goal effort.
Russia’s Margarita Pystina also put in 15 goals during pool play, scoring five each against Portugal, Italy and South Africa.
| Goals | Player | Opponent | Date |
| 6 | Simone Van de Kraats, Netherlands | Brazil | 9/10. |
| 6 | Eleni Elliniadi, Greece | Canada | 9/10. |
| 5 | Simone Van de Kraats, Netherlands | Spain | 9/9. |
| 5 | Margarita Pystina, Russia | Portugal | 9/9. |
| 5 | Helena Zurita, Spain | Kazakhstan | 9/10. |
| 5 | Margarita Pystina, Russia | Italy | 9/10. |
| 5 | Paige Tancrel, South Africa | Portugal | 9/10. |
| 5 | Margarita Pystina, Russia | South Africa | 9/11. |
| 5 | Dafne Bettini, Italy | Portugal | 9/11. |
| 4 | Kako Kawaguchi, Japan | USA | 9/9. |
| 4 | Vanda Valyi, Hungary | Australia | 9/9. |
| 4 | Chralize Andrews, Australia | Hungary | 9/9. |
| 4 | Helena Zurita, Spain | Netherlands | 9/9. |
| 4 | Lucrezia Cergol, Italy | South Africa | 9/9. |
| 4 | Eleni Kanetidou, Greece | New Zealand | 9/9. |
| 4 | Xu Rui, China | Canada | 9/9. |
| 4 | Polina Kempf, Russia | Portugal | 9/9. |
| 4 | Anastasiia Diachenko, Russia | Portugal | 9/9. |
| 4 | Tatiana Tolkunova, Russia | Portugal | 9/9. |
| 4 | Ana Dias, Brazil | Kazakhstan | 9/9. |
| 4 | Leticia Belorio, Brazil | Kazakhstan | 9/9. |
| 4 | Elia Velayos, Spain | Kazakhstan | 9/10. |
| 4 | Maxine Schaap, Netherlands | Brazil | 9/10. |
| 4 | Meng Xinyan, China | New Zealand | 9/10. |
| 4 | Maria M., Greece | Canada | 9/10. |
| 4 | Ruby Swadling, Australia | Japan | 9/10. |
| 4 | Charlize Andrews, Australia | Japan | 9/10. |
| 4 | Madalena Lousa, Portugal | South Africa | 9/10. |
| 4 | Elizaveta Zaplatina, Russia | South Africa | 9/11. |
| 4 | Helena Zurita, Spain | Brazil | 9/11. |
| 4 | Alejandra Diez, Spain | Brazil | 9/11. |
| 4 | Simone Van de Kraats, Netherlands | Kazakhstan | 9/11. |
| 4 | Lucrezia Cergol, Italy | Portugal | 9/11. |
| 3 | Ryann Neushul, USA | Japan | 9/9. |
| 3 | Eruna Ura, Japan | USA | 9/9. |
| 3 | Kamilla Farago, Hungary | Australia | 9/9. |
| 3 | Alejandra Diez, Spain | Netherlands | 9/9. |
| 3 | Jordan Wedderburn, South Africa | Italy | 9/9. |
| 3 | Carlotta Meggiato, Italy | South Africa | 9/9. |
| 3 | Anna Kontoni Iolia, Greece | New Zealand | 9/9. |
| 3 | Vasiliki Douli, Greece | New Zealand | 9/9. |
| 3 | Emmerson Houghton, New Zealand | Greece | 9/9. |
| 3 | Sophie S., New Zealand | Greece | 9/9. |
| 3 | Kemily Leao, Brazil | Kazakhstan | 9/9. |
| 3 | Viktoriya K., Kazakhstan | Brazil | 9/9. |
| 3 | Alejandra Diez, Spain | Kazakhstan | 9/10. |
| 3 | Anastassiya Yeremina, Kazakhstan | Spain | 9/10. |
| 3 | Dafne Bettini, Italy | Russia | 9/10. |
| 3 | Wang Qingwei, China | New Zealand | 9/10. |
| 3 | Gabrielle Milicich, New Zealand | China | 9/10. |
| 3 | Emmerson Houghton, New Zealand | China | 9/10. |
| 3 | Verica Bakoc, Canada | Greece | 9/10. |
| 3 | Kako Kawaguchi, Japan | Australia | 9/10. |
| 3 | Kaho Iwano, Japan | Australia | 9/10. |
| 3 | Jewel Roemer, USA | Hungary | 9/10. |
| 3 | Ryann Neushul, USA | Hungary | 9/10. |
| 3 | Hanna Muller, South Africa | Portugal | 9/10. |
| 3 | Jordan Wedderburn, South Africa | Portugal | 9/10. |
| 3 | Elisavet Protopapas, Greece | China | 9/11. |
| 3 | Lu Bozhou, China | Greece | 9/11. |
| 3 | Florranne Carroll, Canada | New Zealand | 9/11. |
| 3 | Polina Popova, Russia | South Africa | 9/11. |
| 3 | Vanda Valyi, Hungary | Japan | 9/11. |
| 3 | Natasa Rybanska, Hungary | Japan | 9/11. |
| 3 | Ryann Neushul, USA | Australia | 9/11. |
| 3 | Jamie Oberman, Australia | USA | 9/11. |
| 3 | Abby Andrews, Australia | USA | 9/11. |
| 3 | Lieke Rogge, Netherlands | Kazakhstan | 9/11. |
| 3 | Agnese Cocchiere, Italy | Portugal | 9/11. |
Next Up
The second and third place teams from each group moved on to Thursday’s playoffs, while the last place team in each dropped to the 13th to 16th place seeding matches.
Playoffs
- Hungary vs. Brazil
- Australia vs. Spain
- Italy vs. Canada
- South Africa vs. China
Seeding Matches
- Japan vs. Kazakhstan
- Portugal vs. New Zealand