Shootout heartbreak for women’s water polo

Greece’s national women’s team has missed out on a ticket to the Rio Olympics, after losing to Russia in the penalty shootout at the all-important quarterfinal of the Olympic qualifying tournament in the Netherlands on Saturday.

Coached by Sakis Kehayias, the Greek team led for most of the game and had a two-goal cushion (9-7) with less than three minutes to go, but conceded two back-to-back goals for 9-9.

Then the Greek women led 10-9 with just four seconds left on the clock, but the Russians scored (10-10) to take the game to the penalties.

In the shootout the Greeks made just two out of five, while the Russians edged them out with a three in five score to snatch the ticket to Rio, for their fifth consecutive Olympics.