Eight teams ready for action at Super Final

The national teams of Australia, Canada, China, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain and USA will compete in the Super Final of the 8th FINA Women’s Water Polo World League taking place in Tianjin (China) from June 14-19, 2011.
After the preliminary rounds held from May 9-22 in three continents, all teams prepare for a tough competitive field in this year’s World League.
Five-time World League winner, current World champion and Olympic silver-medallist USA is the great favourite of this competition. The U.S. squad will fiercely defend their 2010 title clinched at home in La Jolla (Cal.), hoping to add another crown to their record-breaking collection. In all editions of the World League, they missed the podium just once, in 2005.
Australia, Canada and Russia will also fight for top honours. The Australians finished second in La Jolla last year and third at the 2008 Beijing Olympics while the Canadians picked up silver from both the 2009 edition of the World League and the FINA World Championships in Rome. Last but not least, Russia is a strong podium contender, with a bronze-medal finish in Rome and three podiums in World League history.
China, Greece, Italy and Spain are the remaining teams in the Super Final race. Taking third at last year’s World Cup, China is an established threat to other podium challengers.