Team captain, Rita Kesthelly, jumped into the pool in her eighth World Cup final, becoming the only Hungarian record holder ahead of Mercedes Stieber and Ursulia Takács. The 31-year-old international player – who was substituted in the last quarter – helped the team by scoring four goals.
Attila Peru's team will meet host Japan on Tuesday and the New Zealanders on Thursday, and if they win on paper, they will qualify directly to the quarter-finals as a group stage.
a result:
Women's Water Polo Championship, Group D, First Round:
Hungary-Canada 11-10 (5-3, 2-2, 1-2, 3-3)
—————————————
Scorers: Keszthelyi 4, Gurisatti 2, Vályi, Máté, Garda, Leimeter, Szilágyi 1-1, and Cravier, Lemay-Lavoie, Browne, La Roche 2-2, Paul, McKelvey 1-1.
Hungary:
Maggiari – Szilaje, Vale, Maheu, Mattei, Kestelj, Garda – Substitutions: Parkes, Lemaitre, Ribanska, Farago, Gorisatti.
The Hungarian and Canadian teams met during the preparation for the World Championship, a month ago in Montreal, and the Hungarians won easily with a score of 13-7, even without Rita Kisthely, who was absent due to her government exam. Since 1986, the Hungarian national team has met the Canadians only three times in the World Cup, winning seven of 12 matches and losing five times, perhaps the most painful of which was the 2017 World Cup quarterfinals, when the overseas team advanced to the 2017 World Cup finals. The team won on Margaret Island.
The first goal of the game appeared to be scored by the Canadians, but the referees looked at the video of the Hungarian situation before that, and it turned out that Vanda Vale's shot crossed the imaginary goal line. As is rare, technology had to be used to score the second goal as well, but this also indicated a Hungarian goal, as Zuzanna Matej's close-range shot went wide. The Canadians got better with a nice goal up the middle, but the response came immediately from the other end: Rita Kiszthely “I'm here!” With a shout, he asked for the ball from the field with lightning speed and shot it into the net. The Canadians tied the game with a goal from a two-man advantage, but with another “timely” goal by Keszthelyi, the Hungarians in green and white caps gained the advantage again, and Gréta Gurisatti restored the two-goal lead on a penalty kick.
