Australian men finish 11th at Junior Water Polo World Championships

Australia including WA’s John Hedges, Matthew Oberman, Flynn Mais, Alistair Bruce, driver Matt Murphy, Lachlan Vos and Lewis Putt has finished 11th at the 2019 FINA World Men’s Junior Water Polo Championship in Kuwait.

In the pool rounds Australia emerged with three wins from four games. A 9-16 loss to Greece in the opening game didn’t deter the young side as they bounced back to an 8-7 win of New Zealand in match two. A strong 9-6 win over Brazil before a stomping 25-7 defeat of Uzbekistan had the team full of confidence.

The cross over final against Japan went down to the wire before narrowly losing to 10-9. A late charge by Australia has the score tied at 10 a piece with 2.3 seconds to go, before a last minute goal to Japan sunk their hopes.

Another close game against Canada in the minor placings play off could have gone either way with the scores equal at six points throughout the game. Canada proved too strong in the final quarter to win by three goals.

In the 11th place finish Australia faced New Zealand, with the two teams having squared off in the pool rounds in a closely contested battle. The first half saw goal matched by goal with the scores tied at five each. With both teams eager to finish off a win the final two quarters were back and forth with Australia able to make the most of their opportunities to win nine to eight.