Britain’s men’s water polo team was edged back into a 12th place finish after two consecutive losses at the World University Games in Bangkok.
Following a tight match against Australia, losing 6-5, Britain was dropped into the playoffs for positions 9-12. Two tough matches against Turkey and Russia followed with Britain unable to overpower their European counterparts.
Britain were powerless to make up a two-goal advantage from Turkey in the first match, and despite drawing one all in the second quarter and winning the third by a point, a 2-4 scoreline in the final period left the result at 9-6 to Turkey.
In their final match of the tournament Britain went down 17-9 to Russia. After close results in the first two periods (3:4 / 3:1) the Eastern Europeans showed superior skill to close down the game and score a further 11 points to Britain’s four.
Head Coach Norman Leighton believes his team struggled to regain form after the agonising one-point loss to Australia, but feels all athletes have benefited from the competition, which has given them vital experience at a major Games.
“Overall the boys have played well here and have responded well to the different environment, travel and high temperatures and a long period away from home,” he said. “It’s a big learning curve for them and the multi-sports environment has been a real eye-opener and given them an insight as to what to expect at an Olympics.
“It was a big blow losing to Australia by such a narrow margin and I don’t think the team fully recovered after that. In our last two matches we didn’t make the most of our opportunities and the opposition benefited.
“Today the boys played well in the first half but we couldn’t respond quick enough to Russia’s counter-attacks. We need to be more consistent in Games and be competitive in all four quarters. We’re making small steps forward though and it’s good to see the team moving in the right direction.”
Leighton was keen to praise the British University Sports Association (BUSA) for its top class staff and facilities.
“I’d like to thank the BUSA support staff who have been magnificent and made the trip a truly memorable one,” he added.
In diving, Thomas Owens (Southampton) and Ben Swain (City of Sheffield) reached the Springboard semi-finals but failed to progress further in a tough field.
Owens was just under 50 points shy of a place in the 1m final, finishing 9th with 314.45 points, while Swain was 15th in the 3m event with 366.10 points. Earlier this week, Southampton’s Charlotte Tomkys finished 26th in the 1m Springboard with 186.80 points.
Water Polo Results
Russia v Great Britain, 17:9 (3:4, 3:1, 6:2, 5:2)
Great Britain v Turkey, 6:9 (1:3, 1:1, 2:1, 2:4)
Australia v Great Britain, 6:5 (2:0, 1:2, 3:2, 0:1)
Serbia v Great Britain, 13-7 (3:1, 2:2, 4:0, 4:4)
Great Britain v Japan, 9-8 (2:2, 2:2, 2:1, 3:3)
South Africa v Great Britain, 7-16 (2:2, 2:4, 1:7, 2:3)
-ENDS-
The World University Games take place in Bangkok from 8-18 August 2007. All swimming events take place at the Thammasar University Aquatic Centre in Pathumtani. For details view the official website at www.bangkok2007.com
For information on Great Britain squads see www.busa.org.uk/bangkok2007
Competition dates:
Swimming: 9-14 August
Diving: 11-17 August
Water Polo: 10-12 and 14-17 August
Swimmers competing at the World University Games are:
Matthew Bowe - Loughborough
Sophie Caul - Coventry
Matthew Clay - Bath
Euan Dale - Loughborough
Terri Dunning - Wolverhampton
Debbie Hall - Sheffield Hallam
Louise Henley - University Wales Swansea
Scott Houston - Stirling
Andrew Hunter - Stirling
Karen Lee - Bath
Darren Mew - Bath
Louise Pate - Edinburgh
Stephanie Proud - Florida
Michael Rock - Manchester
Joe Roebuck - Loughborough
Charles Turner - Loughborough
Matt Tutty - Bath
Michael Unsworth - Loughborough
Katherine Wyld – Nottingham
Divers competing at the World University Games are:
Gary Hunt - Southampton Solent
Thomas Owens - Southampton
Stacie Powell - Southampton
Ben Swain - Manchester Metropolitan
Charly Tomkys - Southampton
Water Polo players competing at the World University Games are:
Alex Parsonage - Open University
Christopher Gilbertson - University of Manchester
Sean Ryder - Open University
Mark Banwell - Open University
Robert Rae - University of Manchester
Robert Parker - Manchester Metropolitan
Edward Scott - Open University
Andrew Crawford - University of Bath
Scott Carpenter - University of Manchester
Adam Scholefield - Imperial University
Matthew Thresher - Open University
Thomas Curwen - Open University
Andrew Squires - Open University
For more information contact British Swimming media officer Amanda Overend on 01509 632238, 07876 652 318 or email amanda.overend@swimming.org
British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain. It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association) British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
www.britishswimming.org
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