The biennial junior event has been staged for 20 and under players but from 2009 the event will change to an 18 and under event.

Australia was the dominant nation with the United States, a 10-8 loser to Hungary in the bronze-medal final, one medal behind in the 12-year history of the event.

Here in Porto, Australia was untroubled en route to the final and it was only in the final against the Chinese, who are also the senior national team, that a winning result was in doubt.

Rowena Webster and Jenna Santoromito took Australia to a 2-1 lead but China had the advantage at 3-2 by quarter time.

Captain Gemma Beadsworth, who co-coach Ryan Moar described as “the most influential player at the championships”, pulled back a goal just before halftime for 4-3 down.

The Fremantle Marlins star scored the only goal of the third period to level the game going into the final quarter.

As coaches Moar and Aleksandar Osadchuk injected new players to the game in the final quarter, 16-year-old Cronulla player Breanna Appel scored the go-ahead goal.

It was the dam-breaker and Beadsworth netted twice more with Melissa Hammond ramming in the fourth unanswered goal in just over two and a half minutes — four goals in five attacks that stunned the Chinese who two years ago were 14th at these championships in Perth.

Australia gave up two goals when a player down but maintained composure until the final whistle.

Moar said the referees allowed the game to flow in the final quarter: “The refs held the whistle and we scored the win with good water polo. We had the water polo brains. The Chinese didn’t and we have better depth.

“Our intelligence and creativity won at the end of the day,” he said.

Beadsworth was the guiding light in the team, top-scoring with 27 goals to co-win the award with Japanese player Misa Konaka.

Moar said powerful centre forward Beadsworth, who is also a Commonwealth and World Cup champion at senior level, “won the game for us”.

On the victory, Moar said: “The girls are stoked. It couldn’t be better. We’re convinced we are the best.”

The Chinese juniors have been playing together as a unit for nearly three years and competed three weeks ago at the World League Super Finals in Montreal, Canada as the senior team. The team that lost this final is expected to be the team for next year’s Olympic Games.

Australia’s previous win was in Messina, Italy in 1999. champion United States of America 10-8 for the bronze medal.

Results:
FINA Junior Women’s World Championships, Porto, Portugal, day 7:
Play-offs: For 7th & 8th, Netherlands 11 New Zealand 9; for 5th & 6th, Italy 7 Spain 6; for 3rd & 4th, Hungary 10 USA 8; for 1st & 2nd, Australia 8 (G Beadsworth 4, R Webster, J Santoromito, B Appel, M Hammond) China 6.
Final placings: Australia, China, Hungary, USA, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Canada, Japan, Germany, Greece, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Portugal.
Highest goal-scorers: Gemma Beadsworth (AUS), Misa Konaka (JPN), 27.
Best goalkeeper: Jun Yang (CHN).

Australian team:
Goalkeepers: Elysha O'Neill (SA), Danielle Bower (NSW).
Centre Forwards: Gemma Beadsworth (WA), captain, Holly Lincoln-Smith (NSW). Centre Backs: Sarah Mills (QLD), Rowena Webster (VIC). Counter-Attackers/Drivers/Shooters: Patrice O'Neill (NSW), Jenna Santoromito (NSW), Glencora Ralph (WA),
Joanne Whitehorn (NSW), Keesja Gofers (NSW), Breanna Appel (NSW), Melissa Hammond (NSW). Co-Coaches: Ryan Moar (NSW), Aleksandar Osadchuk (QLD). Manager: Julie Hamill (NSW).
 

Official event website

Australia to play China for World Championship crown
Porto, Portugal (July 28).—
Australia will play China for a second junior women’s water polo world championship crown here tomorrow after easily defeating Hungary 12-7 in tonight’s semifinals.

China ousted reigning champion United States of America 8-7 in the other semifin

For Australia it was another big margin in a competition it has taken by storm and a fifth gold-medal final since the tournament’s inception in 1995.

If Australia betters China the victory will go alongside the 1999 victory over Canada in Messina, Italy. Australia led early with 4-1 and 3-2 quarters. The margin was three at the final break and Hungary brought the game to within two early in the final quarter but Australia hammered home the advantage with four straight goals.

The win was achieved with captain Gemma Beadsworth out of the water with three major fouls but teamwork proved the dominating factor as other players stepped in.

Co-coach Ryan Moar said: “Rowena Webster and Sarah Mills played crucial roles at both ends of the pool to help the team through to the final.

“All players made significant contributions. Glencora Ralph and Patrice O’Neill, who both came into the tournament with injury and illness concerns, have improved in condition and been reliable members of the team.”

The Hungarians were backing up after a narrow and tough victory over Spain in their quarter-final and found the pace and agility of the Aussies too hard to match.  

“Although she suffered three major fouls, captain Gemma Beadsworth was once again an influential force for the team,” Moar said.   

“Now we face China who some would say are a dark horse although, having seen them beat Spain, the Netherlands, Russia and now the United States, we can hardly classify them as anything other than serious title contenders.  

“Thorough analysis of their tactics should see us implement a game plan that will counteract their strengths and expose their weaknesses. 

“They are a team that has prepared long and hard for this competition and obviously will not be taken lightly. Our skill and versatility, combined with plenty of experienced heads, will help us overcome the Chinese for our second world junior championships gold medal,” Moar said.

China had a one-goal lead on the USA at halftime while the game was square at the final break. A late goal by China secured the game and a first medal by the nation at an event at any level outside Asia.

Results:
FINA Junior Women’s World Championships, Porto, Portugal, day 6:
Play-offs: For 11th & 12th, Japan 10 Germany 9; for 9th & 10th, Russia 15 Canada 5.
Round 5-8: Spain 12 New Zealand 7, Italy 9 Netherlands 6.
Semifinals: Australia: 12 (G Beadsworth, R Webster 3, P O'Neill, S Mills 2, M Hammond, J Whitehorn) Hungary 7, China 8 USA 7. 

Australia cruises into World Champs semifinals
Porto, Portugal (July 27).—
Gemma Beadsworth proved herself one of the classiest women in world water polo with a scintillating performance at the FINA junior women’s world championships here tonight.

Playing in the quarter-finals against trans-Tasman rival New Zealand, Aussie captain Beadsworth scored an amazing seven goals as her team won 14-7.

The Western Australian 20-year-old has a tally of 21 goals in four matches as the team heads into the quarter-finals against also-unbeaten Hungary tomorrow.

Australia’s victory was built not only on centre-forward Beadsworth, one of the best senior players in this position in the world, but in an all-team performance, outplaying the Kiwis in every facet of play.

Co-coach Ryan Moar said New Zealand looked tired after three tough round matches and the previous day’s second-round victory over European champion Russia. “After conceding the first goal we switched on in defence and were very hard to break through. 

“Our six-on-five defence was pleasing, stopping seven out of New Zealand’s nine attempts. However, our six-on-five attack will need to improve in the semifinal after converting four from nine. “Besides Beadsworth, Rowena Webster grabbed two goals and played her best game of the tournament so far, contributing in attack and defence,” he said. Australia led 2-1, 7-3 and 12-5 at the breaks.

Moar said Hungary, a 7-6 winner over Spain, was a solid unit.  “One of the bigger teams at the tournament, Hungary had a much more closely contested match.  They were only able to get the better of Spain in the dying minutes of the game.”

In other quarter-finals, reigning champion United States of America had to come back from 4-1 down at quarter time to beat Italy 11-10 and China became the fourth continent to be represented in the semifinals with an 8-7 margin after being behind 6-3 behind at halftime.

Results:
FINA Junior Women’s World Championships, Porto, Portugal, day 5:
Play-offs: For 15th & 16th, Brazil 13 Portugal 5; for 13th & 14th, Greece 19 Puerto Rico 1.
Round of 9-12: Canada 18 Japan 17 on penalties (FT: 14-14. ET: 15-15. Penalties 3-2), Russia 23 Germany 5.
Quarter-finals: Hungary 7 Spain 6, Australia 14 (G Beadsworth 7, R Webster 2, G Ralph, H Lincoln-Smith, J Santoromito, B Appel, S Mills) New Zealand 7, USA 11 Italy 10, China 8 Netherlands 7.
ends

Australia to play giant-slayer New Zealand in World Champs quarter-finals
Porto, Portugal (July 26).—
Australia will face trans-Tasman rival New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the FINA junior women’s world water polo championships here tomorrow.

The Kiwis caused the major upset of the tournament when they pipped world No 2 and European champion Russia 13-12 in the second-round, elimination series today.

A goal two seconds from time by Kirsten Hudson gave the Kiwis victory despite leading 7-3 at halftime.

In another upset, 2003 champion Canada missed the top eight when losing 14-11 to Spain.

Reigning champion United States of America thumped Japan 17-7 and the Netherlands beat Germany 11-9 to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Today’s winners will now play the four group winners who had a bye.
While Australia clashes with New Zealand, Hungary will play Spain, Italy fronts the USA and China meets the Netherlands.

Australian co-coach Ryan Moar said the Kiwis would be tough to beat.

“Winning our pool has not been a real challenge here in Porto. The opposition so far has been second rate. The girls have shown patches of brilliance and have been lacklustre at times. 

"Puerto Rico and Japan could not match us in any area of the game. The Dutch were solid but didn’t really test us either. An upset in the match between New Zealand and Russia has seen the 2005 World Junior Silver Medallists and the 2006 European Junior Champions relegated to the 8th– 1th place bracket. Our quarter-final opponent is unexpectedly New Zealand.

"We have not competed against New Zealand at the junior level for a few years and given their most recent performance they will be a tough opponent. 

“The Kiwi girls have a strong supporter group here in Portugal and are on a roll after close losses to Canada and Italy and a tight win against Russia.

“If the senior girls in the Aussie team can draw on the experience they have gained through competing within one of the strongest national squads in the world, and the younger girls can play to their full potential, we will be extremely hard for any nation to beat,” he said.

"The Aussie Team is refreshed after a day off competition and focused on their task for the remainder of the competition."

Results:
FINA Junior Women’s World Championships, Porto, Portugal, day 4:
Round 13-16: Puerto Rico 6 Portugal 4, Greece 8 Brazil 5.
Second round (winners to quarter-finals): USA 17 Japan 7, Netherlands 11 Germany 9, Spain 14 Canada 11, New Zealand 13 Russia 12.

Australia rockets into World Champs quarter-finals
Porto, Portugal (July 25).—

A 13-9 victory over the Netherlands catapulted Australia to the quarter-finals of the FINA junior women’s world water polo championships here tonight. Three straight wins in Group B means passage directly to the round of eight, bypassing the cutthroat, second-round eliminations.

Other group winners were Hungary, Italy and China.

Reigning champion United States of America finished second in Group A with its sole loss, an 11-10 affair with Hungary.
European champion Russia was bitten by China 9-8. The Chinese team had just completed the World League Super Finals in Montreal, Canada and is expected to do well here.

Australia’s opponent in the quarter-finals will be the winner of the Russia-New Zealand clash, to be played tomorrow. In their first real test so far at the tournament, the Aussies stood up well and led from early in the second quarter. 

Captain Gemma Beadsworth was again the top scorer with five goals (14 for the tournament) and the standout performer while Jenna Santoromito played a solid four quarters.

Co-coach Ryan Moar said: “There were a few lapses in concentration and individual errors led to easy goals for the Dutch and kept them within three goals for most of the game. Superior physical fitness and strength allowed us to break away towards the end.”

The opening quarter was tied at 2-all and Australia had a 5-4 edge at halftime and 9-6 heading into the final period. Australia scored twice from the penalty line while goalkeeper Danielle Bower blocked the Dutch’s only attempt.

Results:
FINA Junior Women’s World Championships, Porto, Portugal, day 3: Group A: Hungary 17 Portugal 3, USA 15 Germany 6. Final points: Hungary 6, USA 4, Germany 2, Portugal 0.
Group B: Australia 13 (G Beadsworth 5, J Santoromito 3, R Webster 2, S Mills, M Hammond, H Lincoln-Smith) Netherlands 9, Japan 22 Puerto Rico 7. Final points: Australia 6, Netherlands 4, Japan 2, Puerto Rico 0.
Group C: Italy 12 Canada 6, New Zealand 13 Brazil 3. Final points: Italy 6, Canada 4, New Zealand 2, Brazil 0.
Group D: China 9 Russia 8, Greece 6 Spain 6. Final points: China 6, Russia 3, Spain 2, Greece 1.

Captain Beadsworth leads with five goals against Japan at World Champs
Porto, Portugal (July 24).—
Aussie captain Gemma Beadsworth, who turned 20 last Tuesday, collected five goals as her team thumped Japan 23-5 on day two of the FINA junior women’s world water polo championships here today.

It was the second big win for the highly fancied Aussies in the 16-nation event that Australia won in 1999 and finished third in Perth two years ago.

Beadsworth has missed playing with the junior team since the Perth bronze medal, instead playing with the senior team, winning Commonwealth and World Cup titles as well as the silver medal at this year’s senior world championships in Melbourne.

Australia laid waste to Japan with 6-2, 5-1, 8-1 and 4-1 quarters, converting six from seven on extra and guarding four from six.

As in the opening day win over Puerto Rico, nine players registered their names on the scorecard and two goals came from penalty shots.

Goalkeepers Danielle Bower and Elysha O’Neill made four and six saves respectively as they shared cage duties.

Australia plays the Netherlands tomorrow for first place in Group B and direct entry into the quarter-finals. The Dutch have also had two big victories over Puerto Rico and Japan.
Result:
FINA Junior Women’s World Championships, Porto, Portugal, day 2: Australia 23 (G Beadsworth 5, R Webster, J Santoromito, K Gofers, S Mills, H Lincoln-Smith 3, P O'Neill, J Whitehorn, B Appel) Japan 5.

Junior women off to a great start in World Champs
Porto, Portugal (July 23).—
Australia thrashed Puerto Rico 24-2 in its opening game of the  junior women’s water polo FINA World Championships here today. Co-coach Ryan Moar said: “We absolutely blitzed them in the first two quarters — 7-0 and 8-0 — giving us a 15-0 lead at the halftime break. “All players got a good feel for the action and the goal-scorers were spread from the youngest to the most experienced.” The team suffered a lapse of concentration in the third quarter, allowing the opposition some joy, coming in the form of two goals. “Scrappy finishing meant that we only put away three of our many opportunities to end the quarter 18-3,” Moar said.

Switched on again in the final period with its defence on track, Australia closed out the game with a 6-0 quarter. Both goalkeepers were on form with Danielle Bower and Elysha O’Neill making six saves each.

On extra-man plays, Australia converted three from eight and defended three from four.

For full results click here then click on the small UK flag on the top right hand corner for the English version!!!

Junior women blitz Italy in friendly
Avezzano, Italy (July 20).— Australia’s junior women’s water polo World Championship campaign is on track following a friendly 15-9 victory over Italy here tonight.

The championships start in Porto, Portugal on Monday and the official game in Avezzano ended two weeks of training with Greece and Italy.

Sarah Mills and Rowena Webster had two goals each as the Aussies led 4-0 early. Mills grabbed two more in the second-quarter scoring romp as her team led 11-4 at halftime.

The third period was lost 4-2 while in the fourth, Glencora Ralph and Patrice O'Neill, both recovering from sickness and injury, found the back of the net for a 15-9 scoreline.

Australia’s opening game of the FINA World Championships is against Puerto Rico, followed by group match-ups with Japan and the Netherlands.

Result:
Junior women’s international, Avezzano, Italy: Australia 15 (S Mills 4, R Webster 3, G Beadsworth, Holly Lincoln-Smith 2, P O’Neill, G Ralph, M Hammond, B Appel) Italy 9.



Coach's report
Avezzano, Italy (July 21).— The Australian Junior Women's Team has continued their World Championships preparation with a training camp and one official match in Avezzano, Italy.After a stint in Athens training with the Greek Junior team the Aussie girls travelled to Italy for another week of common training along with an official international game. The training camp, with one session remaining, has been extremely productive.  High intensity match practice against a strong Italian Junior team along with tactical and conditioning sessions have given the team a chance to continue building towards a successful World Junior Championships Campaign.

Last night in the official match we beat the Italians 15 - 9. 

In a fast and physical game the girls started extremely well scoring in our first attack through a goal by Rowie Webster, her first of 3.  At only four minutes into the game we were ahead 4 - 0.  Sarah Mills and Rowie Webster had 2 each.  The Italians hit back with an goal on extra to make the score 4 - 1 at the first break.

The second quarter was a goal scoring spree for the Aussies netting 7 goals.  Gemma Beadsworth scored two early from centre-forward and was followed by Holly Lincoln-Smith.  Mills snatched another 2 with accurate outside shooting.  Italy managed 3 more to make the half-time score 11 - 4.

The Aussies lost concentration in the third quarter missing easy opportunities and throwing the ball away cheaply too often.  This allowed the opposition to claw their way back to 13 - 8.

The last quarter was a slower period as the game became heavier and the players tired.  Glencora Ralph and Patrice O'Neill, both recovering from sickness and injury, found the back of the net to bring the game to a 15 - 9 conclusion.

A day of sightseeing in Rome and one more training session with the Italian team will finish off a successful build up for the Aussie team before they travel to Porto for the World Junior Championships which commence on the 23rd July.  Our first game will be against Puerto Rico followed by other group matches against Japan and The Netherlands.

Ryan Moar

Australia 15 (S Mills 4, R Webster 3, G Beadsworth, Holly Lincoln-Smith 2, P O’Neill, G Ralph, M Hammond, B Appel 1) def Italy 9

Quarters: 4-1, 7-3, 2-4, 2-1

Major Fouls: Australia 11, Italy 11

Junior women second in Pythia Cup after win against Greece
Itea, Greece (July 10).—
Australia finished second in a four-team junior women’s water polo tournament in Greece, finishing with a 10-5 victory over the host country. The win went alongside a win over Spain and loss to tournament winner Russia. Goalkeeper Danielle Bower took out the best-goalkeeper award. The tournament was the start of the build-up to the July 23-29 FINA WorldChampionships in Porto, Portugal.
The team now has training camps with Greece and Italy before flying to Porto.
Result: Pythia Cup, Itea, Greece, day 3:
Australia 10 (G Beadsworth, J Whitehorn, S Mills 2, K Gofers, R Webster, J Santoromito, J Liessmann) Greece 5.
Final placings: Russia, Australia, Greece, Spain.

Coach's Report
Australian Junior Women's Tour 2007

The team departed from various cities around Australia on 3 July to meet up at Singapore Airport en route to Itea, a small, coastal, Greek town 3 hours from Athens.

Two days after arriving the team played in an annual four nation (Greece, Russia, Spain, Australia) tournament, The Pythia Cup.  As current holders of the Pythia Cup, after beating Greece, USA and Germany in 2006 the girls were keen for a good start to the tour and aimed to regain the title.

A solid opening match saw the team, minus Patrice O'Neill and Glencora Ralph (both recovering from injury and illness), beat the Spanish team 11 - 7.  A game of two halves where we totally dominated (7 – 2) in the first two quarters then stumbled home in the 3rd and 4th, due mainly to tiredness and jetlag.

Our second game was against the highly fancied Russian Team.  In a high-scoring affair the girls played with great spirit only to let the opposition skip away to an 18 - 13 score-line.  There were many positive aspects in the loss and we look forward to another chance to knock off the Russians at the World Championships in Porto if we get the chance.

The third and final game of the tournament was against the host nation were the Aussie girls again dominated their opponents in a fairly one-sided game - the final score was Australia 10 Greece 5.

Our final placing in the tournament was second behind Russia, then Greece and Spain respectively.  An added bonus to our silver medals was Danielle Bower receiving goalkeeper of the tournament.

From Itea we moved back to Athens for a week-long training camp with the Greek Junior Team.  The week so far has been hard training-wise but very productive for the team.  The practice matches have given the girls great opportunities to work on our weaknesses highlighted by the first 3 games and build on our conditioning in preparation for the World Juniors which begin on the 23rd July.

Russians too good for Aussies in Pythia Cup
Itea, Greece (July 7).—
The national junior women’s team were beaten 18-13 by Russia in the Pythia Cup here today. The Russian counter-attack worked effectively while Australia managed six goals from 12 chances on extra-man attack.
Result:
Pythia Cup, junior women, Itea, Greece, Day 2:
Russia 18 Australia 13 (G Beadsworth 4, J Whitehorn, J Santoromito, S Mills 2, R Webster, B Appel, H Lincoln-Smith).

Junior women beat Spain in Pythia Cup
Itea, Greece (July 6).—
The national junior women’s team began their World Championship campaign with an 11-7 victory over Spain in the Pythia Cup.The Aussies led 7-2 at halftime but failed to score in the third before firing in four goals in the last quarter.
Results:
Junior women’s Pythia Cup, Itea, Greece:
Day 1:
Australia 11 (S Mills 4, H Lincoln-Smith 3, J Whitehorn 2, R Webster, G Beadsworth) Spain 7,
Russia 19 Greece 15.