PRESS RELEASE                                                                            3 April 2016

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS DOMINATE UNDERWATER HOCKEY WORLD CHMAPIONSHIPS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Australian Underwater Hockey teams have dominated the 19^th CMAS Underwater Hockey World Championships winning gold in three out of the four divisions.

Australia were crowned the world champion team in the Elite Mens, Masters Men (over 35 years old) and Masters Womens (over 32 years old) divisions at the championships held in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The Australian Elite Women’s team placed 6^th.

The Australian Elite Men team prevailed 3-0 over a valiant Turkish team in the final game of the championship. In one of the most even and closely fought competitions in years, the win was a testament to the team’s focus according to coach David Lambert.

“This win was three years in the planning and three years of training. We played to the plan today and our boys got it done,” said Lambert.

“We improved game on game through the competition and our three finals were excellent. Today’s result is just reward for our efforts. It just goes to show that Australia’s open style of game can still dominate at the elite level,” said Lambert.

Australia’s history making day began early in the day when the Australian Masters Womens team prevailed three goals to one over their South African counterparts. Lena Plambeck and Hayley Digney scored goals in the victory.

Playing coach, Kirsteen Reid praised the spirit and determination of her players, “It was an amazing result for us today. It was a tough game but the girls played so well, I couldn’t be prouder,” she said. The win made it back-to-back World Championship titles for the team.

The success continued when the Australian Masters Mens team won their gold medal game in convincing style. The Australian’s dominated their Great Britain opponents from the outset scoring a goal in the opening minute. The 4-0 halftime margin blew out to an unequivocal 9-1 win.

The team was absolutely dominant, going through the tournament undefeated and defending its World Championship title in the division.

The win was the culmination of an excellent tournament by all eleven players in the squad according to playing coach Jason Miezis, “The boys executed the Australian style to perfection today. We played open and skilful hockey,” he said.

“We looked to move the puck into space at every opportunity, we did that and the result took care of itself,” said Miezis.

With a several young players experiencing their first world championships, the Australian Elite Women’s team didn’t finish in the medals but made great improvement throughout the competition according to co-coaches Eden Brown and Tania McLeish.

The 10-day tournament brought together more than 400 players from 44 teams competing across the four divisions. 17 nations were represented at the tournament.

Final Standings

Official championship website:

http://www.uwhworlds2016.co.za/

Full results and standings:

http://leagues.horizonsolutions.tv/19th-cmas-world-uwh-championship-2016?view=leagues

For more information contact:

Craig Mackenzie

Executive Director, Underwater Hockey Australia

Email: craig [dot] mackenzie [at] uwa [dot] edu [dot] au

Mobile: 0419 927 577

Nina Barry-Macaulay

Communications Officer, Underwater Hockey Australia

Email: nina [dot] b-m [at] hotmail [dot] com

Mobile: 0400 698 089

Above: Australian Elite player – Belinda Keeley in AUS vs CAN game.

Above: Master’s Women Win Gold.

Elite Men – National Anthem before grand final match vs Turkey

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The dark depths of Underwater hockey.