POLO TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
A Great Britain men's water polo team will be in action at
next month's World University Games for the first time in
16 years.
A British team comprising 11 of the players that competed
at last week's LEN European Nations Trophy in Manchester will
travel to Bangkok for the 11-day event which kicks off on
8 August.
The last time a British team entered the event was when Yorkshire
city Sheffield hosted the Games in 1991.
Rotherham Metro's Adam Scholefield will captain a side that
includes 21-year-old Tom Curwen - the second highest goal
scorer at the recent European Nations Trophy where he scored
25 goals.
British squad members Rob Rae (City of Manchester) and Andrew
Crawford (Bristol Central), who just missed out on selection
to last week's European event, complete the 13-strong squad.
Britain face reigning champions Serbia as well as Japan and
South Africa in the group stages, and with some of the world's
top polo nations among the 15 teams entered, competition is
set to be fierce.
National Performance Director Nick Hume is delighted to enter
a team into the competition, which will provide Britain's
top players with further experience on the road to 2012.
"The team will be aiming to improve on the British performance
in 1991 where they finished 11th but it won't be an easy task,"
said Hume. "The World University Games has long been
considered an important competition in world water polo and
many of the top nations will be using it as preparation for
their national teams.
"This event marks an important stepping stone in the
team's preparation towards London 2012."
The British squad selected to compete at the World
University Games is as follows:
Mark Banwell (Cheltenham Swimming & WPC / Open University)
Scott Carpenter (Sedgefield WPC / Lancaster City / University
of Manchester) Andrew Crawford (Bristol Central / University
of Bath) Tom Curwen (Lancaster City / Open University) Chris
Gilbertson (Sedgefield WPC / University of Manchester) Rob
Parker (Cheltenham Swimming & WPC / Manchester Metropolitan)
Alex Parsonage (Cheltenham Swimming & WPC / Warley Wasps
/ Open University) Rob Rae (City of Manchester / University
of Manchester) Sean Ryder (City of Manchester / Open University)
Adam Scholefield (Capt, Rotherham Metro / Imperial University)
Ed Scott (City of Manchester / Open University) Andrew Squires
(Lancaster City / Open University) Matt Thresher (Bristol
Central / Open University)
Head Coach: Norman Leighton
Team Manager: Sarah Dunsbee
Referee: Andy Allen
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