GRE clinched their first women’s water polo world title in 14 years with a statement 12-9 win against HUN on Wednesday (23 July) at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025. 

The Greeks, who also won the World Cup in April, last won the World Championships in 2011 in Shanghai. Meanwhile, ESP retained their bronze after beating USA 13-12.

The final was a spirited affair from the beginning. It was GRE who took the lead through tournament top scorer 

Foteini TRICHA before Natasa RYBANSKA (HUN) pulled one back. Both sides’ defensive strategy came to the fore with the goalkeepers doing well to fend off shots, but it was GRE who entered the first break with a 3-1 advantage and never let it slip. HUN tried to find a way back but were unable to get past GRE’s alert goalkeeper Ioanna STAMATOPOULOU and had to settle for back-to-back world championship silvers. 

In the bronze medal match, reigning Olympic champions ESP endured a nervy end before beating 2024 world champions USA by just a point. The Spanish had been leading since the first quarter but the determined Americans kept things close, narrowing the gap to 13-12 in the final two minutes. Neither side managed to find the back of the net again and ESP hung on for the win.

The full results are as follows –

Classification Games
7th/8th: JPN 15-20 ITA
5th/6th: AUS 11-13 NED

Bronze Medal Game
USA 12-13 ESP

Final
GRE 12-9 HUN

Player of the Final: 
Eleni XENAKI (GRE)

Top Scorer: 
Foteini TRICHA (GRE)

Top Goalkeeper: 
Ioanna STAMATOPOULOU (GRE)

Most Valuable Player: 
Rita KESZTHELYI (HUN)

The final placings for women’s water polo at Singapore 2025 are – 
1. Greece
2. Hungary
3. Spain
4. United States of America
5. Netherlands
6. Australia
7. Italy
8. Japan
9. People’s Republic of China
10. New Zealand
11. Great Britain
12. France
13. Croatia
14. Argentina
15. South Africa
16. Singapore

Third gold for Aleksandr Maltsev at Singapore 2025 with mixed duet technical title

Aleksandr MALTSEV (NAB) won his third gold of the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 on Wednesday (23 July), partnering Mayya GURBANBERDIEVA to take the mixed duet technical title. The duo, who won the same event at the 2019 edition in Gwangju, scored 233.2100 ahead of Spain’s Dennis GONZALEZ BONEU and Mireis HERNANDEZ LUNA (230.4634) and Italian pair Filippo PELATI and Lucrezie RUGGIERO (228.0275). 

In the women’s duet free preliminaries on Wednesday morning, Singapore’s Debbie SOH and Yvette CHONG narrowly missed out on a spot in the final after scoring a personal best of 222.6152 to place 14th. 

The artistic swimming event continues on Thursday at the WCH Arena with the preliminary round of the team acrobatics (10.02am) and women’s duet free finals (7.32pm).  

Featured 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.