Quelling a strong Hungary comback in the last three minutes, Australia edged Hungary 10-9 to book a last eight position at Swimming Worlds women's water polo here on Saturday.

Hungary rallied from three goals down 10-7 with three minutes remaining, almost clawed back the deficit. Drawing on an action shot, Captain Rita Dravucz scored for Hungary before Rita Keszthelyi added one 40 seconds later. But there was only 12 seconds left and Australia took posession of the ball and let the remaining time pass.

Australian poloist Rowena Evelyn Webster was the top scorer of the game with 4 goals out of 5 attempts. After the breathtaking victory, Australia will confront Group D leader Italy in quarterfinal.

In another final-eight berth fights, Olympic champion the Netherlands eased past New Zealand 14-6 and will encounter with Greece in semfinal. Russia, who outclassed Cuba 26-4, will compete against the defending champion USA.

Hosts China enjoyed a heart-stirring victory over Spain 15-6. Getting off to a good start with an early goal by Sun Yujun, China never looked back to seal the victory easily.