Women’s water polo wins bronze medal in Paris

At the Olympics in Paris, the Dutch water polo women won the bronze medal after a stunning comeback against the United States. After trailing 3-7, TeamNL rallied to win 11-10 at the 14,500-capacity Paris La Defense Arena in Paris.

Sabrina van der Sloot, who scored no fewer than six goals, was the star of national coach Evangelos Dudezis’ team as TeamNL pulled away 11-10 with one second left on the clock.

USA Water Polo women’s opener with 0-1 lead after two minutes. Sabrina van der Sloot managed to raise a fist in the air moments after the equalizer after Bente Rog’s shot flew into the American goal. TeamUSA regained the lead after a one-man situation. After going 1-3, 33-year-old Sabrina van der Sloot made it 2-3 with a long shot with two seconds left in the first quarter. In the second period, the USA tied the score at 2-4 after Kitty-Lynn Justra’s second ejection. Much later 2-5 followed by another one-man situation. Simone van de Graats then took over for the equalizer to make it 3-5. However, the gap was soon back to three and then it was 3-7, which was also the halfway point in the battle for bronze.

In the third quarter, Sabrina van der Sloot scored her third goal of the game to make it 4-7. TeamUSA went 4-8 with a penalty, and then the Netherlands also got a penalty. Lola Mulhuizen shot a flawless 5-8. Simone van de Kraats then hit the post, after which the USA counterattacked to make it 5-9 and the margin was back to four. With a quick exit, the experienced Sabrina van der Sloot was accurate at 6-9. Laura Aards saved a penalty with seconds on the clock, but the Dutch water polo women were one time short. Laura Artz again made a great save in the fourth quarter, then Sabrina van der Sloot scored her fifth goal on a penalty to make it 7-9. Then the Netherlands took all the risks. A man more situation gave the U.S. 7-10, which had an absolute star in goalkeeper Ashley Johnson. It was Vivian Sevenich who gave the Netherlands hope at 8-10 with a lovely pass from Sabrina van der Sloot. With a good backhand, Vivian Sevenich brought her team to 9-10. Bente Rogke brought the Netherlands to 10-10 after Laura Artz made another great save. With one second left on the clock, Sabrina van der Sloot was the star of TeamNL at 11-10, good for a well-deserved bronze medal.

Evangelos Doudesis: “We are used to playing exciting matches. It was unforgettable and we played till the last second. We came here as one of the heavy favorites and never lost a single match in regular time in this tournament. However, the differences are small. I am happy with this result.

Sabrina van der Sloot: “It’s great that we still managed to get that bronze medal. Truly a team effort. We will never give up, we have shown that we have a lot of flexibility and that we really want to win. It doesn’t matter who bowled the last ball. I was not hit, I thought I would shoot. It is very beautiful. It was very difficult to flip the switch and we still managed to win.

Netherlands – USA 11-10 (2-3, 1-4, 3-2, 5-1)

Scorers: Sabrina van der Sloot 6, Vivian Sevenich 2, Simone van de Kraats, Lola Mulhuizen, Pente Roge