Water polo at the 2023 Pan American Games – Women's tournament facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Women's water polo tournament at the 2023 Pan American Games |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||
| Venue | Aquatic Center | ||||||
| Dates | October 30 – November 4 | ||||||
| Competitors | 96 from 8 nations | ||||||
| Medalists | |||||||
|
|||||||
|
«2019
2027»
|
|||||||
The women's water polo tournament at the 2023 Pan American Games was a big event! It took place in Santiago, Chile, from October 30 to November 4. Teams from across the Americas competed in exciting matches. The winning team, the United States, earned a special prize: a direct spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France!
Contents
Tournament Schedule
This is how the water polo games were planned out:
| G | Group stage | ¼ | Quarterfinals | ½ | Semifinals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Gold medal match |
| Mon 30 | Tue 31 | Wed 1 | Thu 2 | Fri 3 | Sat 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | G | G | ¼ | ½ | B | F |
- G means Group Stage: Teams played against others in their group.
- ¼ means Quarterfinals: The top teams moved on to these knockout games.
- ½ means Semifinals: Winners from the quarterfinals played here.
- B means Bronze Medal Match: Teams that lost in the semifinals played for third place.
- F means Final: The two best teams played for the gold medal!
How Teams Qualified
Eight women's teams got to play in the Pan American Games water polo tournament. Chile, as the host country, automatically got a spot. The United States and Canada also qualified automatically. Other teams earned their spots by doing well in special tournaments:
- The top three teams from the 2022 CCCAN Championships.
- The top two teams from the 2022 South American Games.
| Event | Dates | Location | Spots | Qualified Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | N/A | 1 |  Chile |
|
| Zone 3 (automatic qualification) | N/A | 1 |  United States |
|
| Zone 4 (automatic qualification) | N/A | 1 |  Canada |
|
| 2022 CCCAN Championships | July 20–26 |  Bridgetown |
3 |  Cuba Mexico Puerto Rico |
| 2022 South American Games | October 11–15 |  Asuncion |
2 |  Brazil Argentina |
| Total | 8 | |||
Originally, the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games were supposed to be the qualifying event for the CCCAN teams. But that tournament was cancelled. So, the 2022 CCCAN Championships were used instead to pick the qualifying teams.
Tournament Format
The tournament started with a "preliminary round." The eight teams were split into two groups of four teams each. This is called a round-robin style, meaning every team in a group played against every other team in that group once.
The results from these group games decided which teams moved on to the "knockout stage." In the knockout stage, if a team lost, they were out of the running for the gold medal. Teams that lost in the quarterfinals then played in separate games to decide places 5th through 8th.
Preliminary Round Results
Teams played in two groups, Group A and Group B. Their scores helped decide who moved forward.
Group A Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Group B Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Final Stage Games
After the group games, the teams moved into the knockout rounds. This is where the competition got really intense!
Tournament Brackets
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Gold medal match | ||||||||
| 2 November | ||||||||||
| Argentina |
13 | |||||||||
| 3 November | ||||||||||
| Puerto Rico |
11 | |||||||||
| Argentina |
1 | |||||||||
| 2 November | ||||||||||
| United States |
27 | |||||||||
| Mexico |
1 | |||||||||
| 4 November | ||||||||||
| United States |
32 | |||||||||
| United States |
20 | |||||||||
| 2 November | ||||||||||
| Canada |
11 | |||||||||
| Cuba |
10 | |||||||||
| 3 November | ||||||||||
| Brazil |
12 | |||||||||
| Brazil |
4 | |||||||||
| 2 November | ||||||||||
| Canada |
21 | Bronze medal match | ||||||||
| Canada |
33 | |||||||||
| 4 November | ||||||||||
| Chile |
2 | |||||||||
| Argentina |
9 | |||||||||
| Brazil |
10 | |||||||||
| 5–8th place semifinals | Fifth place | ||||||
| 3 November | |||||||
| Puerto Rico |
9 | ||||||
| Mexico |
10 | ||||||
| 4 November | |||||||
| Mexico |
15 | ||||||
| Cuba |
11
|
||||||
| Seventh place | |||||||
| 3 November | 4 November | ||||||
| Cuba |
15 | Puerto Rico |
18 | ||||
| Chile |
13
|
Chile |
13 | ||||
Bronze Medal Match
The bronze medal game was played between Argentina and Brazil. It was a very close game!
| 4 November 2023 11:00 |
Argentina |
9–10 | Brazil |
Aquatic Center, Santiago Referees: Ernesto Hernández Toledo (CUB) Gerardo Arellano Jr |
| Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–3, 1–1, 2–4 | ||||
| Canda 3 | Goals | Ferreira 3 | ||
Brazil won the bronze medal in a thrilling match against Argentina!
Gold Medal Final
The final game was for the gold medal and the Olympic spot! It was played between the United States and Canada.
| 4 November 2023 12:30 |
United States |
20–11 | Canada |
Aquatic Center, Santiago Referees: Jose Garcia Soto (VEN) German Moller (ARG) |
| Score by quarters: 5–3, 5–4, 6–2, 4–2 | ||||
| Fattal, Flynn 5 | Goals | McKelvey 4 | ||
The United States team won the gold medal! They beat Canada and secured their place in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Final Standings
Here are the final rankings for all the teams in the women's water polo tournament:
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
 |
United States |
 |
Canada |
 |
Brazil |
| 4 | Argentina |
| 5 | Mexico |
| 6 | Cuba |
| 7 | Puerto Rico |
| 8 | Chile |
| Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics |
