Greece advances to the semifinals with a stunning performance, defeating Italy 19-14

Delivering a fantastic performance throughout the game, the Greek women's national water polo team secured a significant advancement to the World Cup semifinals taking place in Chengdu, China (April 18-20), by defeating Italy 19-14. The victory and qualification of the blue-and-white team was closely watched by the president of the Hellenic Swimming Federation, Kyriakos Giannopoulos.

This win secured a spot for our national team in the tournament's final four, where they will face the Netherlands, coached by Vangelis Doudesis, who earlier defeated Japan 24-16. The prize for the winner of their match will be a ticket to the final of the competition.

Performing at their best, the players under Haris Pavlidis remained focused against the Italians, never giving up the lead at any point in the match. While the players of Carlo Silipo tried to find answers and level the game, they never managed to take the lead in the score. The end of the first half found Greece leading by 3 (12-9), a lead they maintained until the beginning of the fourth period. There, despite a slight score reduction (16-14), the blue-and-white team scored three goals in a row, increasing the lead and finalizing the score at 19-14.

Top scorers for the Greek national team were Vaso Pleuritou and Maria Myriocefalitaki, who scored five and four goals respectively.

The semi-final match between Greece and the Netherlands is scheduled for Saturday afternoon (19/4) at 13:30 Greek time and will be broadcast on ERT Sports 2.

GREECE - ITALY 19-14

Quarters: 4-3, 8-6, 4-4, 3-1

Greece (Haris Pavlidis): Kotsioni, Elef. Pleuritou, Triha 1, Santa 1, Giannopoulou 3, Xenaki 3, Ninou 1, Fountotou, Siouti 1, V. Pleuritou 5, Tornarou, Myriocefalitaki 4, Zourka, Koureta

Italy (Carlo Silipo): Contorelli, Leone, Di Maria, Cordovani, Gant 2, Tsergol, Giustini 2, Bettini 4, Ranali 1, Cociere 4, Kasara, Sezena, Milo, Metziato 1

Hellenic Swimming Federation Press Office: Dimitris Mytikas