With its defeat, the women’s polo team came to a brutal end

Olympics, women’s water polo, group stage, 4th (last) round, Group A:
Australia-Hungary 14-12 (1-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-4, 5-3) – with five meters.
scorers: Williams 4, Andrews 2, Arancini, Gofers, Armit 1-1, and Keszthelyi 3, Szilágyi 2, Garda, Vályi, Rybanska, Leimeter 1-1

Hungary: Alda Magyari – Vanda Vályi, Krisztina Garda, Brigitta Horváth, Rita Keszthelyi, Kamilla Faragó, Rebecca Parkes – replacements: Dorottya Szilágyi, Gréta Gurisatti, Geraldine Mahieu, Dóra Leimeter, Natasa Rybanska

The Hungarian team quickly gained the lead with a Garda bomb, but from then on, the two guards suffered for long minutes in the attack. The goalkeepers didn’t even need a serious feat, then the rival equalized from the spot a minute and a half before the first break (1-1).

The picture of the game did not change in the continuation either, opportunities were missed on both sides, the blocks were in place. In the middle of the quarter, the Australians broke the deadlock with action, but Vályi responded immediately with a lightning-quick goal. Australia gained the advantage again from the center, Keszthelyi responded from five meters (3-3).

After the turn, Andrews opened with a beautiful goal from the top bar, the Hungarians equalized from the front through Rybanska, but they could only rejoice for half a minute, the advantage was already with the Australians again. The Hungarians missed two chances within one attack, Gurisatti shot the first into the block and the second into the goalkeeper. The verdict came for the Australians as well, and the national team captain asked for time, and with some luck, they ended the game with a goal.

For the first time during the match, the difference was two goals (4-6) in favor of Australia, and Attila Mihók called time. Szilágyi carved out the deficit with a man advantage, and the Hungarians switched to a tight rotation in defense. The judges didn’t really reward this, the verdicts came, but the Hungarian defense worked well.

The equalizer came in vain at the end

The Hungarians needed to win the final eight minutes with a two-goal margin, and they got closer with Keszthelyi’s beautiful deflected goal. After that, Williams perfectly spotted that Magyari had moved to the center, so he dropped it flawlessly into the net from far above the Hungarian goalkeeper, and after a possession, he also found his way into the hands of the Olympic bronze medalist netminder at the short top (6-8). Szilágyi beat the Australian goalkeeper from right to right, but his rival’s center took a five-meter shot, which was again sold by Williams.

There were less than three minutes left when Keszthelyi scored from a penalty, the Australians were just killing time in attack, and Attila Mihók called for a timeout with 1:27 left. Magyari also swam up to attack, but the Australians blocked, but the rebound went to the Hungarians, and Leimeter scored (9-9).

There were 51 seconds left in the game, and the Australians were ahead at 26, but the shot hit the post. In the last five seconds, the result did not change, so the essential questions were decided. The points were decided by the five-meters, during which Faragó made mistakes, but the Australians did not deteriorate.

In the quarter-finals, the Hungarians will meet the defending champions, the United States.