Greeks sink Australia
The women’s national water polo team reached the semifinals of the World Championship in Rome for the first time in its history yesterday. Greece managed to overcome favorite Australia 4-3 in a very tight game thanks to its excellent defense as well as cool execution when it really mattered. Greece led 3-1 for about 10 minutes and when the Aussies made it 3-3 in the fourth period the Greeks remained calm to win the game. An excellent lob by Angeliki Gerolimou past the Australian keeper with just 90 seconds to go gave Greece a historic victory over the finalists of the last championship two years ago in Melbourne. In order to reach yesterday’s quarterfinal, the national team had needed to beat host Italy on Saturday – and they did so in style. Greece’s 10-9 win was the first against Italy in a major competition. Despite being the underdog, Greece entered the game strongly and led 2-0 before the Italians bounced back to tie the game and then lead 7-5 in the third period. Yet the Greeks showed more stamina in the end and turned the match around to lead 9-8 and eventually take the ticket for the last eight of the competition. Now Greece will play in the semifinal tomorrow against either Spain or the United States.
