Brits Finsish Third in Euro Qualifiers
7th April 2013The British Gas GBR Men’s Water Polo team finished a credible third place in the first round of the LEN European Championship Qualifying tournament.
The Brits kicked off their campaign on Thursday, falling 12-3 (3-0, 6-1, 1-0, 2-2) to Georgia before bouncing back with an 11-3 (3-1, 3-1, 4-0, 1-1) defeat of Poland on Friday.
The team followed that with a 17-4 victory over Czech Republic on Saturday.
In their final game of the tournament, the team produced a well constructed game plan to draw 5-5 (2-0, 1-1, 1-3, 1-1) with an experienced Slovakian team to finish in third place overall.
Captain Craig Figes was pleased with the team’s overall performance.
“After a very disappointing start in our first game against Georgia, we played better and better throughout the tournament,” said Figes. “We finished with a very good performance against a strong and experienced Slovakian team.
“If we build on our last performance for the next round then we can beat any team in the qualification pool and have a good chance of progressing to the 2014 Europeans.
Fixtures and Results
• 4th April - Georgia 12 - 3 Great Britain (3-0, 6-1, 1-0, 2-2), (GB scorers: Curwen, Waller, Vincent)
• 5th April - Poland 3 - 11 Great Britain (3-1, 3-1, 4-0, 1-1), (GB scorers: Curwen 3, Figes 2, Waller 2, Parker 2, James, King)
• 6th April - Czech Republic 4 - 17 Great Britain (GB Scorers: Parker 4, Waller 3, Scholefield 3, James 2, King 2, Figes, O'Regan, Curwen)
• 7th April - Slovakia v Great Britain 5-5 (GB Scorers: Waller 2, James, Curwen, Parker)
British Gas GBR Men's Water Polo Team at European Championship Qualifiers in Georgia
• Adam Scholefield (Leeds) – Rotherham Metro
• Craig Figes (Bristol) – Bristol
• Ciaran James (Lancaster) – Lancaster
• Edward Scott (Bolton) – City of Manchester
• Jack Waller (Enfield) - Invicta
• Jake Vincent (Solihull) – Solihull
• Matthew Holland (Carshalton) – Sutton and Cheam
• Robert Parker (Cheltenham) – Cheltenham
• Sean King (Farnborough) - Invicta
• Sean Ryder (Nottingham) – City of Manchester
• Joe O’Regan (Oldham)– City of Manchester
• Chris Armstrong (Doncaster) – City of Sheffield
• Tom Curwen (Lancaster) - Lancaster