The Ord Minnett Australian Women’s Water Polo team will play for the bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan, after narrowly going down to Spain 8-10 in their  semi final.

Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Spain was always going to be a tough opponent and got out to an early lead in the first quarter that set them up for the rest of the match.

Despite trailing by three goals at the end of the first quarter, the Aussies – captained by New Suth Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Zoe Arancini – showed their grit and delivered 4 goals to 2 in the second quarter, going into halftime 6-8.

The final two quarters saw both teams score two goals apiece, in an evenly matched second half and despite their best defensive efforts, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers weren’t able to convert enough attempts at goal to advance to play for gold.

They will now play in the bronze medal playoff on Friday 28 July at 2:00pm AEST where they will meet another European powerhouse in Italy.

Italy will enter the match with some levels of confidence having defeated reigning Olympic and World champions USA in the earlier cross over stages.

The last time the Aussie Stingers played for a medal at the World Championships was in Gwangju in 2019, where they secured the victory and took home bronze.

Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers Head Coach Paul Oberman said: “It was a tough game, Spain is a very good team. We had a slow start allowing their shooters to get into the game.

“I was proud of the efforts we put in to fight back but unfortunately it wasn’t our day.

“We won the last three quarters 8-7.  Our team has the ability and with experiences like this we will continue to improve.

“We are looking forward to the next game and the challenge of playing Italy in the bronze medal game.”

Australia plays Italy for the bronze medal playoff on Friday 28 July at 2:00pm AEST, live and free on 9Now.

Story courtesy Water Polo Australia

Photo: Zac Hudson

 

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