Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers 2025 World Aquatics Championships campaign

6th Place Finish for Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have gone down to the Netherlands 11-13 in the playoff match at the World Championships in Singapore, finishing the tournament sixth overall. 

It was a battle throughout the match, with both sides bringing the physicality.  The Netherlands were on point in extra man, with the Aussies impressive in the defence with eight steals throughout the game. 

Both teams finished on the podium at the Paris Olympic Games, but were unable to make it through to the medal playoffs with nothing separating the top women’s sides.  The gold medal match, Greece vs Hungary, neither side played for medals in Paris, providing this Olympic cycle is going to be a close contest over the next three years. 

Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers Captain Bronte Halligan said while the side didn’t cap off the campaign they wanted, they’ll have positives they can take away. 

“Not the ending we wanted, but it’s the one we got.  I’m so proud of the girls, they fought so hard all the way through until the end. 

“It’s been a disappointing tournament, but there have been some moments of brilliance and some really exciting moments and I’m super keen for the girls moving forward into this cycle where we are able to go as a Stingers group. 

“We are still a new group, yes we’re Paris silver medallists but this particular group has spent a lot of time together, with most of our team playing less than 70ish games for Australia. 

“So imagine after two or three years together what we are going to be able to put forward.  Our style of water polo is really exciting, it’s fresh, it’s new, it’s innovative, it’s creative water polo and I think that is exactly what this group of Aussie Stingers want,” she said. 

Halligan said women’s water polo across the globe is at an all time high and the quality of competition is something all sports fans should be excited about. 

“The gold medal match here in Singapore is two sides that didn’t finish on the podium at the Paris Olympics 12 months ago.  

“It goes to show that anyone in the top eight in women’s water polo really could finish on the podium.  Women’s water polo is a really exciting game at the moment,” she said.   

Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers Coach Bec Rippon echoed Halligan’s disappointment, but also acknowledged there is a lot to take away as the side continues to build for LA2028.

“It’s been a tough few days, we’ll acknowledge that, but we talk about not just medals, but how we represent ourselves, how we represent our country, and who we want to be for the people back home watching, and how we want to make them proud. That part’s easy to do, but it’s always tough when you’ve missed out on what you came here for.

“We discussed it, acknowledging that it’s that, that pressure is there. But that’s noise to us, and that’s external things, and we just try to focus on ourselves. The team is here for big results, they want to challenge for medals every day. 

“So, whether we were silver medallists in Paris or not, we were coming here to try and challenge ourselves for a place on the podium.

“We put that on ourselves, and we’re happy to own that. But it’s rebuilding. We’ve got experience, we’ve got young players, and there’s a lot to take away and learn from this,” she said. 

The finish to the match left spectators a little confused, with a long VAR review with only 15 seconds remaining on the clock. The Netherlands was two points ahead but back and forth with the referees it was unclear what was being called. In the end Australia had a timeout and was called for a turnover. Rippon said that moment, in her view, didn’t change the result.

“That really just delayed the game. I don’t think it would have changed the game. We had opportunities to score earlier – that probably would have been our moments. And defensively, we were a little bit passive at moments, and that’s probably what cost us the game.

“At that stage we were two goals down, and there were only 15 seconds left, so we knew it was going to be a really tough ask, but what we asked for was to try for one more and see if we could score on our last attack. 

“We decided, why not go for it? And we ended up losing the ball. But yeah, it does slow the game right at the end, but it was pretty out of reach. But we’re never going to give up,” she said. 

CLASSIFCATION MATCH: AUSTRALIA 21 JAPAN 17 

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have bounced back to topple Japan 21-17 and put them through to the 5-6th playoff on Wednesday 23 July. 

It was the boost the Aussie Stingers needed after their narrow one point defeat in the quarter finals to Greece. But the win didn’t come easy, with a fast paced Japanese team pushing the Aussies throughout. But it physcial strength of the Australian side combined with their determination saw them hold onto their lead they set up at half time to power home. 

Tilly Kearns and Dani Jackovich lead the Aussie Stingers goal scoring efforts with five a piece, while Sienna Hearn chipped in with four. Genevieve Longman stepping into goals delivered seven saves when from when she came in during the second quarter. 

Olympic silver medallists Kearns, named player of the match, said her side came out with the determination needed to get the win today.

“It was a great game, a lot of things happened. We fought, and that’s what we’re so good at, grinding it out. We’ve got plenty to play, and if we just play the game that we know we’re so good at, we know it’s going to be a very exciting one to play.

“From a disappointing quarterfinal, it’s always hard to get up and play another game when it’s not for a medal and it’s not for the result that you want. But we’re a team that always gets around each other and we love each other a lot, so we wanted to play for each other.

“It was a messy game, some things or a lot of things, were out of our control, but we still had fun while we played. It was closer than we would have liked, but we got away with the win and we’re happy with that.

“We grinded them down slowly. We knew how Japan played, we watched a lot of footage and prepared really well. Maybe our strength and our size got the edge on them today because we were able to get a lot of inside turns and our centre forwards were able to do their jobs. We had two centres who scored a lot of goals and earned a lot of things, so maybe it’s just our size and strength that helped us get that edge.”

“After the quarter final, it was disappointing for sure, but we as a country, we just play with a lot of pride and we know that we need to finish this tournament to the best of our abilities.

“For us, that is fifth now, and no matter who we play, is going to be a really hard game. Our goal has changed a little bit since we’re not playing for a medal, but we definitely want to come away as high as we can.”

Australia will now play the Netherlands in the 5-6 playoff, at 10:00pm AEST on Wednesday 23 July. 

QUARTER FINL: AUSTRALIA 7 GREECE 8 

In the quarter finals of the World Aquatics Championships, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers went down to World Cup champions Greece by one goal in the dying seconds of the game, 8-7.

The scores were locked 7-7 with eight seconds left on clock, but when the ball was turned over Greece managed to swim toward the Aussie goal, shooting from outside to beat the buzzer, scoring with two seconds left on the clock. 

There were never more than two goals separating the teams throughout the game, and while Greece were able to take narrow leads at the end of the second and third quarters, the momentum had certainly shifted the Aussies’ way in the final quarter. 

Newly named captain, dual Olympian Bronte Halligan, said naturally the team is devastated that they won’t have the opportunity to play for a World Championship medal. 

“That’s a really tough result. As Bec [Rippon] ‘that quarter final water polo you’ve got to take stick in it right to the end’ and we did.  The Greeks also did that but we showed real heart out there and I couldn’t be more proud of our girls for water polo we put together out there tonight. 

“We put together four quarters of tough, hard on the line water polo and that’s all you can ask for as a Captain.  It’s a tough loss and it’s going to sting for a little bit, but the girls will hold their heads high knowing we did everything we could have. 

“Four of the girls in our team, it was their first quarter final, and quarter finals water polo at a World Championships is always tough, it’s do or die. The result didn’t go our way, but I think we can take a lot away from that game. 

“This is a stepping stone and we really want to build this squad, we have a lot more goals. I think it’s exciting to see where we are going to go over the next few years during this [Olympic] cycle,” she said. 

Aussie Stingers Head Coach, Bec Rippon, echoed Halligan’s sentiment, saying despite the disappointment of the loss, there is a lot they can build on from here as they set their sights on LA 2028. 

“We spoke about it before the game, that this is what we do all the hard work for, these big moments, and we go out there and leave everything we’ve got in the pool and I think we did that tonight. 

“It is a heartbreaking way to lose, but we did leave everything out there and I’m proud of the team.

“We played them [Greece] in Paris, but they had a different group and a different style.  They’ve really changed since then and we saw that at the World Cup earlier this year and they have shown they are definitely a team to be reckoned with. This is not a surprise that they’re up here competing for the medals. 

“We came here with big ambitions so to not reach those is disappointing, but if I can just look at the games we’ve played and the things that we’ve learnt and the performances we’ve put forward, I’m proud. 

“We now need to go home and analyse this campaign as we continue to build towards LA 2028,” she said. 

Australia will now meet Japan on Monday 21 July at 6:00pm AEST in the classification matches. 

GAME 3: AUSTRALIA 15 NEW ZEALAND 6 

GAME 2: AUSTRALIA 19 – ITALY 15

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have continued their winning run at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships with a four goal victory over Italy.

After matching up against them only days ago in the Tri Nations Test Match Series in Perth, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers took some extra confidence in the game having claimed the earlier win on home soil.

Captain Bronte Halligan led from the front, scoring the first goal of the game to set up an early lead for the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers. It was a lead they managed to hold on to from start to finish, with Hayley Ballesty scoring the last goal of the game to close it out, 19-15.

With five goals of her own, Abby Andrews was named Player of the Match.

“We’ve matched up a lot with Italy this year, and we know they’ve got really great shooters as well as a strong centre forward,” Andrew said.

“They got some great shots, but I think we stamped the pressure really early on in the game and we were able to consistently build off that momentum.

“They came back a little bit but I think we held them out well in the end – we had great assists, great passing and some good execution,” she said.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will now play trans tasman rivals New Zealand in their final pool match on Tuesday 15 July at 7:35pm AEST. Watch LIVE and FREE on 9Now.

GAME 1: AUSTRALIA 34 – SINGAPORE 2

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have kick started their 2025 World Aquatics Championships campaign with a dominant win against the host nation, Singapore.

Alice Williams opened the goal scoring for Australia, with a goal early in the first quarter. Despite holding on to a 7-0 lead at the first quarter break, the Aussies kept the pedal to the metal, and were ruthless in attack and defence for the entirety of the four quarters.

Every field player for the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers scored a goal, Williams the top scorer with five of her own, closely followed by Tilly Kearns, Olivia Mitchell and Tenealle Fasala all with four each.

Kearns was named the Most Valuable Player of the match and said she’s loving being back with the Australian team mates.

“It’s so good being back, I love these girls so much, they’re the funnest team in the world,” Kearns said.

“We just have so much fun together, but we also work really, really hard and we all put our heads down when we need to, but we know how to laugh and have fun at the same time so it’s just the best,” she said.

For World Championships debutant Mitchell, today’s game was a great way to start her first World Championships.

“It was really good, I really enjoyed being around the girls. They’re very uplifting and positive, and it’s just a really, really good environment to play in.

“For the first half, the Singapore crowd were right above us in the stand…it was really loud,” she said.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will now play Italy in their second pool match on Sunday 13 July at 7:35pm AEST. Watch LIVE and FREE on 9Now.

“It’s going to be a really tough battle. It will be a really good hit out against them. Playing them in Perth was fun, and really difficult at the same time,” Mitchell said.

“But it’s going to be a really good game on Sunday and I’m excited,” she said.