Australia to Face Montenegro in Junior Worlds Crossover

Published On: 10 August 2017

Australia has recorded its first defeat at the World Junior Men’s Water Polo Championships in Serbia going down 11-2 to the home nation.

The Aussies completed their group round matches with three wins and a defeat to finish second behind Serbia and now face a cross-over match against Montenegro on Friday morning Perth time.

The Australian team includes five WA athletes with recent senior team member Tim Putt joined in action by Damian Williams, Nicholas Elphick, Lachlan Vos and Christian Kyriakou.

After a strong first quarter, the Australians fell-away in their match with Serbia. Putt believes the team can reach the quarter finals but will need to improve consistency throughout matches.

“We started well matching Serbia, but in the second quarter, we still played well but didn’t get the opportunities in the back of the net,” Putt said.

“We lacked concentration in the last two-quarters.

“We really just needed to pull through in the second half of the game.

“Now we’ve just got to focus on the next game with Montenegro tomorrow night, we’ve got to win that to get a spot in the quarter finals, so all the boys are just going to get their head up and focus on that game,” he said.

The Australian team had earlier defeated China 14-4, recorded a 13-3 win over New Zealand and secured a 14-5 victory over Argentina.

Montenegro finished third in Group B behind Croatia and Spain.

Further details on the 2017 FINA World Junior Men’s Water Polo Championships can be viewed via the tournament website.

 

 

Tim Putt | 18 | Mount Hawthorn

Damian Williams| 19 | Willagee

Nicholas Elphick| 18 | Manning

Lachlan Vos | 17 | Nedlands

Christian Kyriakou| 17 | Shenton Park