GB POLO TEAM WINS PAN PACIFIC SILVER
Britain's junior men's water polo squad has finished second
against strong competition at the Pan Pacific Invitational
Water Polo Cup in Canada.
The British team, all aged 17 and under, gained valuable
experience as they faced top opponents Australia, New Zealand,
Canada and the USA. Unlike their competitors who benefited
from a period of training matches in the run-up to competition,
Britain had just one day to acclimatise after arriving in
Calgary.
In an extraordinary run in the group round, Britain drew
level on three of the four games, but was unable to match
the might of Australia who won 15-5.
They progressed to the semi-finals and eventually forced
a lead over New Zealand in a tight match where neither team
could hold more than a two-goal lead. The game went into overtime
followed by a shoot out where Britain boosted their score
to 15-12, eight of the goals from Grantham's Sean King.
In the final the Australians proved their supremacy and strength
in depth with eight of their players hitting the net. Britain
managed to score five, but couldn't improve on their group
stage performance and took silver behind Australia who won
with 18 points.
Hosts Canada named King and Jack Waller (Invicta) in their
'All Star' tournament team alongside four Australians and
one Canadian.
British Water Polo National Performance Director Steve Foley
was delighted to see his young team finish top two in Calgary.
"The team put in an excellent performance and the result
was far better than expected," he said. "Most of
the other nations put in a lot of preparation over their summer
holidays and this was the climax for them so for our guys
to get off the plane and have only a day to recover before
their first match is a real credit to them.
"The team has been working together for the last two
years as the British Youth Squad and at 17 and under they
are now classed as Juniors. They are the first group to come
through our development programme and it's shown us that the
system is working.
"This was their first major competition and they improved
as the week went on. After the tournament we staged a few
training games and beat New Zealand 10-7 in a formal test
match.
"Sean King had an excellent performance in the semi-final
and for him and Jack Waller to get picked in the all-tournament
team is a good reward and quite an achievement."
Britain's senior men's team will be in action against some
of the top teams in Europe at the European Nations Trophy
in Manchester from 8-15 July.
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