AUSTRALIAN YOUTH WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 4 WRAP

Published Thu 12 Jan 2023

The all important semi finals were today held at the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships, as teams put it all on the line to book a spot in tomorrow’s important gold medal playoffs.

After four days of water polo, it all comes down to Friday’s medal playoffs to determine who will be the Australian champions and who will walk away with the medals on offer and the minor placing bragging rights.

Watch today’s replays from some of the matches via Kommunity TV - click here

Read how the action unfolded across the Gold Level semi final matches throughout the day.

18&U BOYS

SF1 | Sydney Uni Lions 11 d UNSW Wests Magpies 7

Hometown rivals Sydney Uni Lions and UNSW Wests went head to head in the first 18&U Boys semi final to decide who would be playing for gold in tomorrow’s medal matches.

Under the guidance of head coach Dragan Bakic, Sydney Uni Lions managed to get a four goal win, earning their spot in the gold medal match.

Sydney Uni Lions captain Lucas Young said he was so proud of his team for sticking together to get the win.

“We had a hard game today but we just believed in ourselves and got away with the win,” Young said.

“They’re a familiar team, and we have a bit of a rivalry.

“We’ve created a bond throughout this tournament, we all want to play for each other and we all have each other’s backs, in the water and out of the water, and I think that helps with our overall performance.

“It would mean everything, this has been a goal of mine for a while, to get another Australian Youth Water Polo Championships medal and I hope we can do that tomorrow.

“We came here to win and we’re one step closer now,” he said.

SF2 | UWA 11 d Melbourne Collegians 10

In the second men’s semi final, local side UWA upset Melbourne Collegians with a buzzer beater to make their way through to the gold medal match.

Playing in front of a passionate home crowd, UWA’s Harry Tucker said he was so proud of his team.

“It was a really tough game, and that’s what we expected. But we’re glad we got the win, and look forward to playing in the final tomorrow,” Tucker said.

“As you could see, it means alot to everyone in this team to be playing for a gold medal. We’re really pumped and really happy for the whole team.

“It’s a great feeling hearing the crowd cheering for us, it gets us going when we need it,” he said.

18&U GIRLS

SF1 | Mermaids Pink 19 d Polo Bears 3

In another battle of crosstown rivals, Brisbane sides Mermaids Pink and Polo Bears went head-to-head in the first 18&U Girls semi final.

Mermaids booked their spot in the gold medal match, with the hope of continuing their success at the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships in tomorrow’s final.

Mermaids representative Taafili Taoso scored four goals for her team, and admitted she was a bit emotional to be playing for gold.

“We all thought it was going to be a really tough game, because in the semis it’s a do or die situation,” Taoso said.

“We came out really strong in the first quarter, which I thought was really good and we managed to keep going from there.

“We’ve been training for this (gold medal match) for so long, so we’re all very excited…I’m very emotional because this is our last Australian Youth Water Polo Championships.

“But it’s going to be a tough final match, and we’re really looking forward to it,” he said.

SF2 | MATS Polo 9 d UTS Balmain Tigers 7

The second 18&U Girls semi final went down to the wire between USA’s Mats Polo and Sydney’s UTS Balmain Tigers.

While Mats got off to an early lead, the Tigers fought their way back and were in it right until the end. With just three minutes left on the clock, the scores were locked 7-7.

But some last minute plays from Mats saw them get across the line to book their spot in tomorrow’s final.

Mats Polo Goalkeeper, Audrey Cox, said: “We came off a game yesterday and we weren’t really feeling like ourselves. But today we came in and we knew we wanted to be aggressive, the [Balmain] Tigers players played a really hard game, they fought all the way to the end and we knew if we wanted to do good we would have to do the same and match their energy and I think we really did that.

“I’m really excited [to be advancing] and this is what we came here to do. It’s been amazing so far, I’m really loving it,” she said.

14&U BOYS

SF1 | UTS Balmain Tigers 6 def by SNB Breakers 14

In the first of the 14&U Boys semi finals, SNB Breakers delivered an impressive 14-6 win over cross town rivals UTS Balmain Tigers.

SNB Breakers player Milo Dacic said after four days of water polo, they are excited for the finals game tomorrow.

“We’re so excited to be playing for gold tomorrow,” Dacic said.

“It means a lot to us, we’ve worked really well this year and worked hard at all of our training.

“Sydney Uni are a strong side, they have some very good players and we know we’re going to have to work really hard to beat them,” he said.

SF2 | Sydney Uni Lions 6 d UWA Bears 4

The second 14&U Boys semi final was a close battle, between Sydney Uni Lions and UWA Bears.

In the end, Sydney Uni Lions reigned supreme, delivering a 6-4 win.

Sydney Uni Lions player Toby Gould said after finishing second in 12&U, they’re looking for a chance at redemption.

“I can’t wait - in Under 12s we came second so we’re pretty keen to try and win gold this time,” Gould said.

“This means a lot to our team, we are just really thankful to be in the final.

“Tomorrow will be a tough game, SNB is a good team and it will be a good game,” he said.

14&U GIRLS

SF1 | UTS Balmain Tigers 12 d All Hallows School Navy 2

UTS Balmain Tigers 14&U Girls were able to deliver a convincing win over Brisbane’s All Hallows School (Navy) in the first of the semi-finals.

The win books the Tigers a spot in the gold medal playoff tomorrow, where they’ll head into the match with five wins and one loss under their belt.

Balmain junior, Evelyn O’Neil, said: “We are really excited and we are really pumped and we think we can win [the gold medal].

“At the end of each quarter our Coach told us ‘think of it as nil all, we’re not up we’re not down.’ That made us not relax, which meant we kept playing strong the whole game,” she said.

O’Neil said her team have enjoyed their time together at the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships and they are thrilled to see their hard work come to fruition.

“All of our games have been really hard but we have just played our best. [Our Team] is so friendly, and we all love each other and we just have the best time together.

“In the lead up we did a lot of training and team bonding, and we were really excited to come here [to Perth]... all our training has paid off and we are so excited to be here,” she said.

With tomorrow’s gold medal on the horizon, she said they will need to stay focused to bring home the win.

“We are going to play our game, we won’t focus on the other team and just make sure we play to our strengths,” said O’Neil.

SF2 | Mermaid Pink 4 d Sydney Northern Beaches 3

Semi Final two of the 14&U Girls saw a closely fought tussle between Mermaid Pink and Sydney Northern Beaches, with the Queenslanders delivering a one goal victory 4-3.

The game went down to the wire, with both sides fighting until the end in a bid to secure their spot in tomorrow’s gold medal match.

Mermaid’s Bethan Smyth was thrilled her team managed to hold on and secure a spot in the grand final.

“We’re pretty happy. We were very stressed going into the final quarter.

“This is our first time experiencing games against teams outside of Queensland. I’m really excited [for the gold medal game] and keen to see how well we can go.

“We spend a lot of time together as a team, training and team bonding,” she said.