CHANGSHU, Jiangsu Province, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States women's water polo team moved within one victory of winning their seventh World League Super Final title after edging Greece 7-6 (2-3, 2-2, 3-0, 0-1) in the semifinals here on Saturday.
Standing between the Americans and their seventh championship are Australia, who trailed China for most of the other semi but rallied to beat the hosts 8-7 (0-2, 3-2. 3-2, 2-1).
"It's a hard battle. We are not good at the start, so were we today as we were 0-4 behind China. But my girls came out in the second half and had a pretty great defence and attack," said Greg McFadden, head coach of Australia.
In the other semifinal, six-time title holders USA were 4-5 behind Greece in the first half but finally gained the upper hand.
"I'm disappointed with the game. Our players should not under-estimated Greece. They were too relaxed in the first half. We need to be more careful and cautious in tomorrow's final against Australia, "said American head coach Adam Krikorian.
On Sunday, world championship runners-up China will face world champions Greece in the bronze-medal game. China's best finish at the World League Super Final was last year's fourth place.
In the 5th-8th playoffs played on Saturday, Germany made history after winning 4-2 in a thrilling penalty shoot-out against Canada, while Russian swept Italy 17-4 (4-2, 5-1, 4-0, 4-1).
Germany, who entered the 2012 FINA Women's Water Polo World League Super Final for the first time, meet Russia on Sunday for the fifth position while Canada play Italy in the 7th-8th battle.
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