Aussie Juniors Finish 10th at World Champs

The Australian women’s junior water polo team has finished 10th at the World Championships in Greece.

Having missed qualification for the quarter finals after a preliminary round defeat at the hands of Hungary, the Australians bounced back in style to trounce Serbia 15-5 in the first of classification matches.

This victory set up a playoff with China for ninth place, with the Aussies edged 12-11 in a thrilling contest.

The playoff started well for Australia, with the team reaching the first quarter break with a 5-3 lead. China however, outscored the Aussies by eight goals to five over the second and third quarters to wrest control and hang on for victory, with the final quarter split at one goal apiece.

Western Australian athlete Tess Hoskins captained the Australian side and was joined by fellow WA talents Sofie Pontre and Dayna O’Leary.

O’Leary reflected on the campaign as an important learning curve for the young team.

“We really put in a good fight, but it wasn’t the result we’d hoped for. We had really hoped to get top eight.

“But I think it’s going to be a really good learning experience for all the girls and we are just going to take out everything that we can out of this competition,” she said.