GWANGJU, South Korea, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China was stopped by Greece from entering the top eight of the women's water polo at the 18th FINA World Championships here on Saturday after losing the round of 16 match 12-8.

China made an unpromising start in the match when Greece led 4-1 in the first quarter.

The two teams tied in the next two quarters, 2-2 and 4-4 respectively, with intense attack and defence on both sides before Greece nailed down the victory.

Gong Dali, head coach of the Chinese team said it wasn't their best performance. "I feel sorry for the loss. We wanted the win too much. We focused on the attacking side, but made mistakes on the other end."

"This was a do-or-die game. Everybody wanted to win," said defender Mei Xiaohan. "We had a bad start, but we never gave up. We had each other's back and tried to level the score, and it didn't turn out as we wanted. It's sad we lost, but there's no regret after giving it all."

China will face Canada in a 11th-12th placing match on Monday.