The Australian Women’s Water Polo team tonight hosts the first of three tests with China in Perth, as the build up to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games intensifies.
The Aussies Stingers are looking to better their bronze medal victory from the London 2012 Olympics come Rio, recently naming their top 16 squad members from which the final team will be selected.
An important build up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Aussies squad members will be looking to impress as they go up against fifth ranked China side.
Coach Greg McFadden said the camp and test matches provide a good opportunity for the Aussie squad to stake their claim for Olympic selection with less than 200 days until Rio.
“The team have had a good break since the Rio Test matches last year and the series against China will provide a good warm up to the World League Rounds that are occurring in Texas in a few weeks’ time.
“China are currently ranked fifth in the world. With Hungary winning the recent European Championships it demonstrates that any of the top 7-8 teams can win the medal on any given day. Getting in solid competition against teams ranked inside the top five in the world is important for us,” said McFadden.
While Australia were successful at winning gold at the recent Rio test match series in November, McFadden admitted there is still work to be done.
“This test series provides us with the opportunity to work on different combinations.
“We want to focus on our consistency. In recent games we have been able to put together two strong quarters but not four,” he said.
The Australian team are utilising the facilities at the new WAIS High Performance Service Centre whilst based in Perth, with the Stingers’ squad containing WAIS scholarship athletes; Gemma Beadsworth, Glencora McGhie, Zoe Arancini and Lilian Hedges.
The first test match against China will get underway tonight at UWA Aquatic Centre, Parkway Entrance 4, Crawley, WA.
GAME 1: Thursday 28 January UWA Aquatic Centre, Parkway Entrance 4, Crawley, WA
GAME 2: Saturday 30 January UWA Aquatic Centre, Parkway Entrance 4, Crawley, WA
GAME 3: Tuesday 2 February Bicton Pool, Blackwall Reach Parade, Bicton, WA
-WaterPoloAus
