Aussie Stingers claim first victory at World Cup

The Aussie Stingers have claimed their first win of the World Aquatics World Cup in Greece with a 15-6 victory over Israel.

It was a full team performance from the Aussies, dominating the match from start to finish. Olympic silver medalist Abby Andrews opened the scoring early in the first quarter for Australia while teammate Charlize Andrews scoring three goals in the first quarter.

Strong defence in the second quarter kept Israel to one goal, while the Stingers added another three goals to their haul.

Stingers goalkeeper Claire Durston made some crucial saves in the third quarter as the score stood at 11-4 in favour of Australia at the end of that quarter.

A dominant last quarter by the Stingers saw them close out the game with a 9-goal win. Olympic silver medalist Charlize Andrews was named Player of the Match, after scoring five goals.

“Tonight went well – we learnt a lot after yesterday’s game going down to the Netherlands,” Andrews said. “Israel definitely put up a good fight tonight and we managed to adjust our defence and kept them at a low score which was good.”

Australia will play Italy in their final group game on Friday 17 January at 6am AEDT.

A number of NSW Institute of Sport scholarship athletes including Sienna Hearn (pictured above playing against Israel), Bronte Halligan, Genevieve Longman and Danijela Jackovich are with the squad in Greece.

“They’re a very fast team and technical team, but as long as we stick to our structure and style of play, it will be a good game,” said Andrews.

Story and photos courtesy of Water Polo Australia.