In last-second reversal, Canada's women's water polo team qualifies for Olympics

The Canadian women's water polo team missed its last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Then, all of a sudden, it didn't.

An 18-12 loss to Italy in the seventh-place classification match at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on Friday was supposed to be the final straw for Team Canada, which was bidding for its second straight Olympic appearance and fourth overall.

But a few hours later, Water Polo Canada announced its women's team had "finally" qualified for Paris due to South Africa's forfeiture of its spot. The national sport organization added there were more details to come.

Canada finished the Doha tournament with an eighth-place result. It placed seventh at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

In Friday's match, Roberta Bianconi paced Italy to the win with five goals, while her teammates Sofia Giustini and Silvia Avegno each added four goals apiece.

Verica Bakoc was Canada's top scorer with four goals. Marilia Mimides and Hayley McKelvey each scored twice for Canada.

Live streaming and extensive coverage of the aquatics worlds runs through Sunday on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.