Australia Crushes South Africa and is Now Set to Face Serbia
The Australian Sharks are well ahead in the tournament in Nis, Serbia for the water polo World League Super Final. The Australians have shown signs of great potential in this year’s tournament, defeating every team they faced so far. The Sharks have faced the top teams of Group B, which include South Africa, Croatia, and Serbia—the No. 1 team.
The Australian team stunned the Croatian team (the silver medalists of last year's tournament) 10 – 7, before facing South Africa. The confrontation with South Africa appeared to be, however, a formality. With an impressive score of 19 – 4, the Australian Sharks seemed to be simply training themselves instead of considering their opponent as a real threat.
The pressure was on the South African captain, Bevan Manson, who is one of the few players that was able to stay in the team for the tournament. Many players in the South African team are new to the competition this year, which makes them a less experienced opponent. South Africa was indeed crushed by an embarrassing score in the beginning of the week, a 22-0 defeat against the defending champion Montenegro.
The Australian Sharks did not spare the Africans, either. One of the Sharks’ most talented players is Robert Maitland, who started to play water polo at the age of fourteen for his local club St. Peters. Very quickly, the Australian was playing in the state team under 16’s, before joining, two years later, the Australian Junior team in 1999. From 2001 to 2003, Maitland entered the World Junior Championships and ended up winning the title of MVP during the 2002 National Titles. Those years were quite prolific for him, as he won the National League premierships in 2002, 2003 and 2005. He won another title in 2003 and the MVP of the 2003 National League Finals Series.
In 2006, Maitland won the gold medal during the Commonwealth Championships, before playing for the Spanish National League in the following year. This was before his participation in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where the Australian team finished eighth—an improvement compared to its previous results. The high point of the competition was when Australia lost to one point against Hungary, the eventual gold medalists who had also won the Olympic Games in Sydney. This was by far the greatest game that Australia had ever played, which was also of the opinion of their coach, Tom Hoad.
Teaming up with his equally talented partner Samuel McGregor, who also played for the Australian team in Beijing, Maitland seems to possess the right amount of skills such that the Sharks could go far during this tournament.
However, Australia will now have to face the hosting team, Serbia, in their next match. This will be a difficult confrontation for the Sharks, and will establish the best team of the first group, allowing the team to participate in the next round of the water polo competition.
Serbia, however, will be able to count on its talented players as well. Having earned the bronze medal last year, the hosting country is ready to reach the highest step of the podium this year. The team includes the Serbian hero Vanja Udovicic. Udovicic, having last month refused to play restrictively for the national Italian team, became a patriotic idol. Instead, Udovicic chose to stay with this home country, Serbia, and represent their team. His decision was covered in the Serbian press, and the Serbian Water Polo Association president publicly honoured Udovicic for standing up for his country under the Italian pressure.
It will be difficult for the Australian underdogs, hence, to remain focused in front of an enthusiastic crowd, which will be obviously cheering for their homegrown champions, the Serbs.
Tags: