Netherlands eliminated France, favorite of the Men competition, before beating Germany in what will be remembered as an epic final. With one medal in each category Germany dominates these Canoe Polo World Championships in Poznan.

Women

Team Germany entered the field of play today against Great Britain willing to do as good as their U21 teammates who won the gold yesterday. They made it clear by scoring only one minute into the game and leading through the entire final, basing their play on a very strong defense and unstoppable counterattacks. The new World Champions can definitely thank their goalkeeper who did miracles throughout the whole game, demoralizing a team of Great-Britain that however did everything they could to change their fate. It was not enough though and despite obvious tactical and physical skills and a siege of the German defense during the whole second half, the British lost 4-1. While the German coach was exhilarating, Great Britain coach Paul Brain acknowledged their opponents’ superiority: “It was a very hard final”, he said. “The Germans played particularly well, did a very good job at playing without the ball and holding the pressure. Their goalkeeper stopped a lot of shots and that was an important difference between the two teams”. Earlier in the day Australia took the bronze against New-Zealand in an Oceania derby. It is the best result in ten years for the Aussies.

Men

The men replaced the women on the main pitch a few minutes later for the last game of the 2012 World Championships. The German and Dutch could both rely on a massive support from the stands where hundreds of supporters and teammates gathered for the final under the sunny weather of Poznan. The game was top level, very tight and offered a breathtaking denouement. Neither Germany nor the Netherlands were able to break the deadlock in the regular playing time, playing on an absolutely frantic pace and scoring successively until 4-4 in the second half. In the extra time, the Netherlands were the first on the ball at the face-off, and managed to score the golden goal on their first attempt, ruining Germans’ hopes to imitate their ladies teammates. “This is an amazing feeling”, said coach Michiel Schreurs. “After the retirement of our previous senior team, we had to start with a completely new team two years ago. To win the World Championships on our first attempt with this team is incredible. The final was fantastic. The shot clock rule works beautifully for making exciting finals. We knew we could do something big after taking out the French in semi-finals.” France, favorite of the category, overcame their deception after losing to the Dutchs in semi-final and took the bronze against Australia.

The Poznan World Championships served as the qualification competition for the 2013 IWGA World Games which will be held in Colombia. The top 5 Men and Women's teams will be invited to compete at next year’s World Games, and the highest placed women's team from the Americas will also qualify.

In the results bar at the top of this page you can download all results in one PDF.