Fifth day at the federal centre in Trieste of the women's water polo pre-Olympic tournament. The semi-finals, played today, have qualified Netherlands and Hungary to Tokyo. Out Italy and Greece that tomorrow will play the third position and the title of reserve.
 
Semi-finals for fifth place.  Kazakhstan beat Slovakia by a narrow margin in the opening period. The Slovaks, down 7-5 at the start of the third period, came back with goals from Halocka and Stankovianska (7-7). In the fourth period, after a series of back-and-forth matches, Akilbayeva's goal made it 11-10 just a few seconds from the end. The success of France (11-4) over Israel was easier. The decisive break for the transalpine team came in the third period with Dhalluin and Guillet making the score 6-2.
Semi-final for first place and play-off for the Olympic Games. Netherlands qualified for the Olympics by beating Greece. The Hellenic team, driven by some amazing saves by Diamantopoulou, led 4-3 at the court turnaround. Greece's intensity dropped and the Dutch team turned the score around with Megens and Van der Sloot (5-4), and then went to +2 with Megens at the beginning of the fourth period (6-4). It is the decisive moment of the match. Greece makes a lot of mistakes in numeric superiority, doesn't score anymore, and the Dutch fly with Van der Kraats who from the perimeter overcomes Diamantopoulou for the final 7-4.
In the second semi-final Hungary beat Italy 13-10. The Magyars were ahead 5-1 in the second period and 6-3 in the third. Italy came back and twice reached -1 (6-5 and 7-6). Then the decisive break by the Hungarians with two mini-breaks: Szilagy and Keszthelyi made it 9-6, then Leimeter and Illes made it 12-8.

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Semi finals - Saturday 23 January
(17) Kazakhstan-Slovakia 11-10 (2-3, 4-2, 1-2, 4-3) / semi-final for fifth place
(18) France-Israel 11-6 (2-1, 2-0, 5-2, 2-1) / semi-final for fifth place
(19) Netherlands-Greece 7-4 (1-2, 2-2, 2-0, 2-0) / semi-final for first place
(20) Hungary-Italy 13-10 (3-1, 2-2, 4-4. 4-3) / semi-final for first place

Finals - Sunday 24 January
(21) 14:00 Slovakia-Israel
(22) 16:00 Kazakhstan-France
(23) 18:00 Greece-Italy
(24) 20:30 Netherlands-Hungary

First stage

Rankings
Group A: 1. Italy 5, 2. Netherlands 5, 3. France 2, 4. Slovakia 0 
Group B: 1. Greece 6, 2. Hungary 4, 3. Kazakhstan 1, 4. Israel 1

Day 1 - Thuesday 19 January
(B) Hungary-Israel 27-2 (7-2, 3-0, 9-0, 8-0)
(B) Greece-Kazakhstan 13-5 (4-1, 4-1, 3-2, 2-1)
(A) France-Italy 6-19 (1-5, 0-5, 2-3, 3-6)
(A) Netherlands-Slovakia 22-2 (6-0, 4-0, 8-0, 4-2)

Day 2 - Wednesday 20 January
(B) Hungary-Kazakhstan 23-6 (7-2, 6-3, 5-1, 5-0)
(B) Greece-Israel 20-1 (7-0, 3-0, 5-1, 5-0)
(A) Netherlands-Italy 7-7 (2-1, 1-2, 3-3, 1-1)
(A) France-Slovakia 17-9 (5-2, 1-5, 6-1, 5-1)

Day 3 - Thursday 21 January
(B) Hungary-Greece 5-8 (1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-2)
(A) France-Netherlands 6-15 (2-8, 2-1, 2-3, 0-3)
(A) Italy-Slovakia 26-4 (6-1, 7-0, 5-2, 8-1)
(A) Israel-Kazakhstan 7-7 (2-2, 1-2, 1-2, 3-1)

Quarter finals - Friday 22 January
Timetables changed on request of broadcasters
(16) Slovakia-Greece (1-4, 0-5, 2-7, 0-6)
(14) France-Hungary 7-20 (2-4, 1-3, 2-5, 2-8)
(15) Italy-Israel 15-6 (3-0, 3-1, 7-1, 2-4)
(13) Netherlands-Kazakhstan 19-6 (5-1, 4-2, 4-0, 6-3)

photo credit Andrea Staccioli / DBM