The women's World League Super Final kicks off on Tuesday in Shanghai, China with defending champions United States in the role of favourites once again. The reigning Olympic champions restored order in last year's edition of the Super Final after China blocked a possible 5th straight World League in 2013 by winning the Super Final that year in Beijing. The following edition however USA once again cruised to victory beating 2012 European champions Italy in the final while Australia took the bronze medal.
For the upcoming 2015 edition, already the 5th consecutive Super Final hosted in China, Team USA is considered favourite to add another World League trophy to its impressive cabinet. The Adam Krikorian coached side last week in Kunshan won the 7-nation friendly tournament cup beating the Netherlands in the final 18-9 after the Dutch were defeated 10-3 in the group stage by the Americans, although most coaches were rotating their squad throughout that preperational tournament. Head coach of the main rivals Australia, Gred McFadden labelled the US team as favourite in the Australia Water Polo preview of the event. The rivalry between the Aussie Stingers and the USA has endured over time and has been especially strong over the past twelve months, with the two teams meeting in the gold medal final of two of the past three major FINA tournaments, Australia only managing to come out ahead on one of those occasions.
USA and Australia headline the respective groups in which the opponents from Italy, Russia and the Netherlands can be considered outsiders with the possibility of advancing deep into the tournament as all teams will reach the knockout stage. Here both group winners will face the other group's 4th ranked sides while crossing matches will see the 2nd and other group's 3rd ranked teams face off against each other and vice versa.
2015 FINA Women's World League Super Final
Shanghai, China
9-14 June, 2015
Schedule
Tuesday, 9 June
15.00: Netherlands vs. Canada
16.20: United States vs. Brasil
17.40: Australia vs. Russia
19.30: Italy vs. China
Wednesday, 10 June
15.00: Netherlands vs. Brasil
16.20: Italy vs. Russia
17.40: USA vs. Canada
19.00: Australia vs. China
Thursday, 11 June
15.00: Netherlands vs. USA
16.20: Italy vs. Australia
17.40: Canada vs. Brasil
19.00: China vs. Russia
Friday, 12 June
15.00: 2A vs. 3B - game 13
16.20: 3A vs. 2B - game 14
17.40: 1A vs. 4B - game 15
19.00: 4A vs. 1B - game 16
Saturday, 13 June
15.00: L13 vs. L16 - game 17
16.20: L14 vs. L15 - game 18
17.40: W13 vs. W16 - game 19
19.00: W14 vs. W15 - game 20
Sunday, 14 June
14.30: L17 vs. L18 (7th/8th place)
16.00: W17 vs. W18 (5th/6th place)
17.30: L19 vs. L20 (3rd/4th place)
19.00: W19 vs. W20 (1st/2nd place)
N.b.: time mentioned is local time.
Previous winners:
2004 - USA
2005 - Greece
2006 - USA
2007 - USA
2008 - Russia
2009 - USA
2010 - USA
2011 - USA
2012 - USA
2013 - China
2014 - USA
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