Sharks go down to Japan, but through to quarters

The Olympic quarter-finals are calling for the Australian Men’s Water Polo team for the first time since London 2012 despite a 14-13 loss against Japan into the preliminary rounds in Paris.

Knowing they’d done enough to advance to the quarter-finals regardless of the result, the Sharks were given a strong test by Japan, who is ranked last in Group B.

Australia comes off two big wins against European powerhouses Serbia and Hungary. They lost their first game to Spain. 

“Every contest we have against them is a close, entertaining affair,” Sharks co-captain Nathan Power said of the match with Japan.

Lachlan Edwards was impressed by Japan, who picked up their first win at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“Fair play to them, they brought it,” Lachlan said. “They play a very different style to everyone else.”

Co-captain Blake Edwards scored the first goal 52 seconds into the game, his fourth of the tournament.

Australia didn’t miss early on, scoring four unanswered goals with their first four shots.

Nathan played his 230th match for Australia and used a no-look backhanded flick to find the bottom corner of the net for Australia’s fifth goal, to make it a 5-1 scoreline late in the first quarter.

Japan, off the back of their swimming ability and pressure on the ball, made their way back into the contest midway through the second quarter. 

They closed out the match outscoring Australia 13-8 and were spearheaded by their elite goal scorer Yusuke Inaba, who put six past the keeper.

The result was still questionable right down to the final minute. 

Australia was facing a 13-11 deficit but erased the lead with two quick goals from Milos Maksimovic and Chaz Poot. 

All tied at 13 with 25 seconds to play, Milos hit the post with his shot and Seiya Adachi converted his shot on goal with 11 seconds on the clock to ice the game.

Despite the loss, the Sharks maintain second position in their group, the first time they have finished second in a group at an Olympic Games.

“For a long time an Australian team had to prove they belong,” Nathan said.

“Now we’re making sure we’re in the contest the whole way through. When we’re in an arm wrestle we’ve shown we can make the right decisions with the big wins we’ve had so far.”

Their quarter-final opponent is to be determined, with the last day of pool matches continuing to play out. They’ll have one day off before the quarter-finals begin at La Defense Arena.

The chase is now on to make Australian men’s Olympic Water Polo history, with the best ever result being fifth at Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992.