Australia’s women’s water polo team yesterday lost 8-6 to France in Group B at the Taipei Summer Universiade and face a must-win game against Argentina at the Taipei Songshan Sports Center tonight to reach the quarter-finals.
“I think it’s pretty disappointing,” Australia assistant coach Mel Rippon said. “I think it’s pretty obvious that we had a game plan and the girls were performing really well, but converting was a big issue for us today and the French converted off our mistakes.”
Women’s waterpolo was only added to the Univerisade schedule in Belgrade in 2009.
Photo: Dierdre McKinney, Taipei Times
Described as a combination of swimming, handball, rugby, football and wrestling, the game is fast paced, but easy to follow, as players attempt to drown each other for possession of the ball.
Each goal is worth one point.
Despite a strong start by Australia that saw them claim the first goal within seconds of the start, France recovered quickly and established a strong in-goal defense.
France changed tact in the second quarter to dominate an attacking game, with France driver Estelle Millot taking advantage of a personal foul called against Australia driver Julia Barton 4 minutes, 48 seconds into the second quarter, turning the tide as they drew level 2-2.
“They [France] capitalized on the opportunities that we essentially created for them, which is disappointing for us,” Rippon said.
With an aggressive final push from Australia driver Casey Pascalle, who twice closed the gap in the final quarter with goals at 4 minutes, 38 seconds and 4 minutes, 9 seconds, it was not enough to affect France, who maintained a solid defense.
“Today was very important. [A win] would have helped secure that spot [in the quarter-finals], so it’s a do or die now,” Rippon said.
The Australia men’s team, who on Wednesday lost to Japan 9-15, cheered on the women from poolside.
“We went and watched the men play last night. Depending on the schedule we’ve been able to get to one another’s games,” Rippon said. “We’ve got a few parents who’ve made the trip out here and we’ve made some friends along the way and I think the Australian team has done a really good job.”
“They [the women] knew today was a really important game for us, so they encouraged a lot of people to who weren’t competing to try and get here today,” Rippon said.
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