The women’s water polo teams of HUN, AUS and USA have one foot in the quarter-finals of the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 after winning their second group stage games on Sunday (13 July). 

HUN easily defeated JPN 33-13, while AUS were made to work for their 19-15 win over ITA. 

In the blockbuster finale of the day between two world champions, defending champions and world No. 3 USA prevailed in spectacular fashion against world No. 2 NED. It was the Dutch who drew first blood through a Simone VAN DER WEIJDEN (NED) penalty but the USA recovered with strong drives to lead by two goals at half-time. Both teams were neck and neck throughout the second half, but the USA were more clinical and converted 41% of their attempts compared to NED’s 29%. Goalkeeper Amanda LONGAN (USA) also did well to stay unfazed in the last quarter despite an aggressive NED offence and sealing the narrow 11-9 win for her side. 

HUN (Group C), AUS (Group A) and USA (Group C) remain top of their respective groups and are in pole position for direct entry to the quarter-finals. 

Over in Group D, the stakes are high for leaders ESP and GBR after they beat FRA and RSA respectively. The Spanish and British, who have six points each, will face off for top spot and a place in the quarter-finals on 15 July. 

Meanwhile, SGP will be looking to end their group campaign with a win after a second defeat by NZL. Charlene TIO (SGP) had a standout game, scoring all four of her attempts, but the hosts were no match for NZL who won 22-7. They will face ITA in their final Group A match on 15 July.

Says Angie Winstanley-Smith, head coach of NZL: “The girls played really well. We’ve got some things to work on for the next game but I’d like to congratulate Singapore because they’ve improved a lot in the last two years and I can see them working really hard so it’s really nice to see another country play water polo.”

The full results are as follows –
CHN 29-9 ARG
HUN 33-13 JPN
GBR 12-3 RSA
CRO 7-31 GRE
ESP 23-6 FRA
AUS 19-15 ITA
NZL 22-7 SGP
NED 9-11 USA

Photo Credit: Singapore 2025

The World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 runs from 11th July to 22nd August 2025. More information available here

The full schedule for the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 can be found here. Details on ticketing can be found here, and information on the extensive global coverage of the event can be found here.