The Ord Minnett Australian Women’s Water Polo team have secured a quota for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after defeating New Zealand 2-0 in the Oceania Olympic Qualifiers.

With less than 12 months to go until the Paris Games, the  Stingers claimed back-to-back wins in style, winning 17-3 on Friday before backing it up to win 15-5 on Saturday evening.

After recently making it through to the medal playoffs at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan, narrowly finishing fourth, the Oceania win gives the Aussies a nice confidence boost as they continue to build towards Paris 2024.

Knowing victory was all that was needed to earn the quota for Paris, Australia started in the best possible way, taking the lead in the first minute and they never looked back.

A 4-1 first quarter was replicated in the second, giving the Stingers an 8-2 lead going into half-time.

New Zealand came out from the break far more resolute in defence and Australia were only able to edge the margin out by one in the third quarter, but held an 11-4 advantage.

The final quarter mirrored the outcome of the opening two, with Australia once again outscoring New Zealand to run out 15-5 victors.

Saturday’s game was a special occasion for more than one reason, with Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers captain Zoe Arancini, a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Scholarship athlete, celebrating her 300th game for Australia.

“It was a tougher game today, but the girls were able to chip away and come away with the win,” said Arancini. “The team is ecstatic to have qualified for the Paris Olympics, it’s a nice way to end the international season.

“To have qualified a year out from the Games takes that pressure away and means we can focus on working on what we need to, to bring our best to the Paris Olympics.”

Stingers Head Coach Paul Oberman echoed Arancini’s sentiments about the team continuing to develop in the run into Paris.

“It’s fantastic that we’ve qualified – excellent result for us,” he said. “It means we can now focus on just us for the next 12 months in the lead up to the Olympics. Focus on some areas that we probably need to work on, whether it be attack, defence, extra-man attack, extra-man defence – all the really important areas of the game.”

Oberman said the atmosphere during both matches was fitting of the occasion and was happy with how his team responded.

“The team played well, it’s always a tough game, playing New Zealand in New Zealand,” he said. “Fantastic for our sport with a full crowd, loads of young kids watching, so a great experience.

“It was also very good for our team  to experience playing in front of a partisan home crowd, lots of screaming fans, and a really great atmosphere.”

OCEANIA OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS
Friday 11 & Saturday 12 August 2023
Sir Owen Glenn National Aquatic Centre, Auckland NZL

Game 1 | Australia 17 d New Zealand 3
Game 2 | Australia 15 d New Zealand 5

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