Final Heartbreak for WA at U18 Water Polo Champs

Western Australia has come away from the 18 and Under National Water Polo Championships in Brisbane with runner up medals in both the boys and girls competitions.

In the boys’ final, WA Gold fell to a 8-6 defeat to tournament favourite NSW Blues. The win capped a third successive championship for the Blues, who were undefeated through the tournament.

WA Gold coach and head of the WAIS men’s water polo program Paul Oberman said that the team had given it everything and showed a lot of promise for the future.

“The boys played well as a team all week and were very ably led by the WAIS boys,” he said.

“With only a couple of minutes remaining in the game and scores at 7-6 to NSW,we had an opportunity to draw level on an extra-man attack but failed to execute the pass to the correct player.”

“NSW went to the other end and scored on a counter attack, the boys continued to fight out the game, however all to no avail,” Oberman said.

WAIS scholarship holders George Ford and Luca Alteri both scooped nominations in the All Star Tournament Seven and were selected for the Australian U18 team along with Jayden Smith (WAIS), Dimitri Stamatis (WAIS), Billy Christensen and Will Dayman.

There was also disappointment for the WA Gold girls’ team, after they were defeated 7-3 in the final by Queensland Maroon.

WA Gold coached by WAIS head women’s water polo coach Peter Szilagyi had entered the final undefeated, but came unstuck against a determined home team, that had defied the odds to make the medal match after two round robin matches had gone against them.