Day 09 of the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea
Looking to earn a quarterfinal berth, South Africa was outplayed by a clinical German side finding an easy passage to get within striking distance.
South Africa lacked accuracy on attack converting only 18 percent of their shots at goal. They got the match off to a good start scoring two goals in the first quarter trailing the Germans by just three points going into the second period.
Mzansi’s goals came courtesy of Jason Evezard, Sven van Zyl, Liam Neill, Nardus Badenhorst and Etienne le Roux.
Germany broke clear in the second quarter, adding six more goals to the scoreboard without conceding.
South Africa added one goal after the half-time break but was unable to stop a rampant German side opening a 14-point lead.
Coach Paul Martin’s charges put up a valiant fight in the final period scoring two late goals while limiting Germany to five.
“That is the most attacking polo we have played at this tournament,” Martin said.
“We were more physical off the ball on the attack, and we had a lot of opportunities. We never play these games.
“The biggest issue for us is consistency and the physicality, which killed us. We earned a lot more exclusions, so that was good” added Martin.
The men’s Water Polo team will next face the United States in one of the 9-12 classification matches.
Meanwhile, five South Africans were involved in heats on the first day of the swimming competition at the Nambu University Aquatics Centre on Sunday. None of the swimmers advanced to the next round in their respective events, but there were still a few sparking performances to kick off South Africa’s campaign.
The quartet of Erin Gallagher, Tayla Lovemore, Emma Chelius and Rebecca Meder set a new South African and continental record in the women’s 4x100m freestyle. They finished their heat in ninth place with a time of three minutes, 43.35 seconds (3:43.35) chopping more than two seconds off the previous national mark set in 2012.
Sixteen-year-old Meder made her debut at the senior World Championships finishing 22nd overall in the women’s 200m Individual Medley touching eighth in her heat with a time of 2:15.96. National record-holder Erin Gallagher missed out on a 100m butterfly semi-finals berth finishing her heat in sixth place with a time of 59.21 seconds. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Ryan Coetzee finished 10th in his 50m butterfly heat clocking 24.13, while Youth Olympics medallists Dune Coetzee and Michael Houlie made a valiant effort in their respective events missing out on spots in the next round. Coetzee finished fourth in her 400m freestyle heat posting a time of 4:14.39 with Houlie touching 10th in his race with a time of 1:01.18.
SA Swimming Team in Gwangju, Korea:
Men
Alaric Basson, Michael Houlie, Chad le Clos, Aryton Sweeney, Bradley Tandy, Christopher Reid, Eben Vorster.
Women
Emma Chelius, Kaylene Corbett, Dune Coetzee, Erin Gallagher Tayla Lovemore, Rebecca Meder, Tatjana Schoenmaker, Nathania van Niekerk, Mariella Venter.
ENDS
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Swimming South Africa is the governing body of aquatics in South Africa.
Its objective is to encourage the practice of aquatic disciplines for all in South Africa with the purpose of promoting swimming as a life skill through Learn To Swim programmes; providing healthy exercise to South Africans of all ages and races; recruiting recreational swimmers to compete in the various competitions; and promoting competition and athlete development to the highest level. Swimming South Africa is kindly supported by SASCOC, National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Arena, Sport & Recreation SA and Rand Water.