After losing the first two meetings, to the Australians and the Spaniards, the Canadians did not miss their chance against South Africa, 14th in the last world championship, and the big underdogs in Group A.

The latter was not a match for the Canadians, who finished ninth in the World Cup in Guangzhou in 2019, who took advantage of this duel to fill in the goals. In the event of a standstill in their group at the end of the preliminary round, this statistic can make the difference and allow them to advance to the elimination round.

This is good. Our goal today was to take advantage of the long pass. We did well [notre plan] Our game was smooth, British Columbian Gurpreet Sohi said.

It is important for us to play our game, no matter who the opponent is and what the challenge is. Today was a good match for us. We went back to basics, took a quarter at a time, one possession at a time, and put into practice what we discussed in the pre-game meeting. It gives a lot of confidence for the future. We will maintain the pace.

in complete control

Maple Leaf players took charge from the start of the game with five goals to one for their opponents in the first quarter. They added four more in the second and third quarters, before concluding with a big hit, scoring eight goals in the last period.

Canadian women dominate South Africa

Photo: AP/Mark Humphrey

All 11 players from Canada scored for the score. Sohi was the most productive with a harvest of four targets. Albertan Kera Christmas did a hat-trick.

Georgia Muir was the only one to beat Quebec goalkeeper Clara Volpesi, who had saved eight of her shots.

Everyone scored, it was a really team effort. We are very happy with that. This win is very important for the group stage, because we want to finish third. It’s our first win [victoire] From games, this gives us confidence.

The Canadians will enjoy three days off before facing the Netherlands, seventh in the world, in their final preliminary round match on Sunday.

Having defeated the Spaniards 29-4 from the start, the South Africans will try to put in a better performance on Friday against the Dutch.

The top four teams from each group of five countries will advance to the quarter-finals.

Canadian women are making their third Olympic appearance in water polo, their first since the 2004 Athens Olympics.