AUSSIE STINGERS FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS CAMPAIGN

5-6 PLAYOFFS - WOMEN - AUSTRALIA 5 def by SPAIN 8

The Aussie Stingers have wrapped up their FINA World Championships campaign in 6th place after a tough loss to Spain in their final playoff match.

In a battle for 5-6 position, the Spaniards came out firing, outscoring the Stingers 2-0 in the first quarter, but the Stingers clawed back in the second and third, before narrowing the gap to three in the last quarter.

The Stingers shared the goal scoring load, with Tokyo Olympians Bronte Halligan, Abby Andrews, Amy Ridge, Tilly Kearns and captain Zoe Arancini all scoring one each.

Head Coach Paul Oberman said although a tough result in their last game, the growth and development of the team over the course of the four week tour has been outstanding.

"I am proud of the growth and development in the team over the last four weeks," Oberman said.

"We didn’t have our best shooting game, although we created plenty of chances. We must be more clinical in games and training to improve.

"This tour has been a great experience for the girls, really good positive and productive learning. We had three good hard tough games this week. 

"We had a good first week at the tournament, and proud of how we played in the second week. Onwards and upwards from here," he said.

The Aussie Stingers will now head back to Australia, with a second group of athletes given an opportunity to train and play overseas on their European Tour in August.

5-8 PLAYOFFS - WOMEN - AUSTRALIA 16 d GREECE 14

The Aussie Stingers have toppled European powerhouses Greece in the 5-8 playoffs at the FINA World Championships overnight.

It was a see-sawing battle between both sides for the full game, with the Aussie Stingers just managing to edge ahead in the second quarter to set themselves up with a handy lead.

But the Greeks fought back and with scores locked at full time, the teams were sent back into the pool for a penalty shoot out.

It was a courageous effort from the Aussie Stingers, Tokyo Olympian Bronte Halligan scoring first and inspiring captain Zoe Arancini, and fellow Tokyo Olympians Tilly Kearns and Abby Andrews to follow suit. In the end, the Aussie Stingers were able to outscore the Greeks 16-14 (PSO 4-2).

It was a momentous occasion for more than one reason, with Tokyo Olympian Amy Ridge celebrating her 100th match for the Australian Women's Water Polo Team.

"I’m really proud of the resilience we showed as a team after a heartbreaking quarter final loss on Tuesday," Ridge said.

"It was particularly satisfying to get the win today on my 100th appearance as a Stinger.

"I’m very grateful for all of my teammates, both former and current, and I’m excited for what’s to come for this group - onwards and upwards," she said.

Aussie Stingers Head Coach Paul Oberman said he was proud of his team for bouncing back after a tough loss to Hungary.

"I am relieved - it was a really good effort by the girls," Oberman said.

"We didn’t quite nail what we needed to in the last quarter, but with experience we will become better. 

"We have steadily improved our conversion of penalty shots this tour, 4/4 was pleasing. Gabi [Palm] was excellent making two saves and getting a piece of the first two.

"Against Spain, it will be a good hard game, very good centres, very good outside shooters. We need to be physically and mentally prepared," he said.

The Aussie Stingers will now advance to the 5-6 playoff, where they will meet Spain on Sunday 1 July 1am AEST. Click here to watch live on 9now.

QUARTERFINALS - WOMEN - AUSTRALIA 6 def by HUNGARY 7

The Aussie Stingers put up a tough fight in the quarterfinals of the 2022 FINA World Championships, but it wasn't enought to hold off a strong Hungary at home.

The Aussie Stingers came out firing, an early goal from Tokyo Olympian Tilly Kearns putting their opponents on notice early.

Despite a comeback push from the Hungarians, the Aussie Stingers managed to go toe-to-toe, with scores locked 3-3 at half time.

Tokyo Olympian Gabi Palm was crucial in goals for the Aussie Stingers, and kept them in the match with some impressive saves.

However, in the last half, the momentum swayed with the home team, who managed to claim an eventual 6-7 win.

Captain Zoe Arancini gave full credit to her team for the efforts, but said the Hungarians were all class.

"It's obviously a disappointing loss, and a close loss," Arancini said.

"Our conversion just wasn't good enough today, but we created those opportunities, we just needed to put them away.

"We fought right until the end, and I couldn't be any prouder of the girls. It was a big game, and I think we've learnt a lot from it going forward.

"Now, we want to rebound quickly and come away with the win in the next two [classification] games," she said.

Aussie Stingers Head Coach Paul Oberman, on his birthday, said he's proud of the fight the team showed right up until the final whistle.

"It was a tough loss, but I'm really proud of the girls and proud of their effort. We stuck to our game plan, and I think that's what I'm most proud of," Oberman said.

"We created loads of opportunities, unfortunately they didn't go in today.

"It's an unfortunate loss, but we'll take a lot out of that. Some of the girls have never played in front of that many people before.

"It's a great experience, a great learning opportunity and we'll be better for it," he said.

With top-8 placings still up for grabs, the Aussie Stingers will now play Greece on Friday 1 July at 3.30am AEST. Click here to watch live on 9now.

GAME 3 - WOMEN - AUSTRALIA 17 d BRAZIL 5

The Aussie Stingers have continued their unbeaten run, with a convincing win over Brazil at the FINA World Championships overnight.

Having recently played Brazil at the FINA World League Intercontinental Cup in Peru, the Stingers knew to expect a fast and physical game.

However, the class of the Aussie Stingers shone, leading them to a 17-5 victory, topping pool C and putting them straight through to the quarterfinals, where they will meet the winner of Hungary and Argentina (who will play in the Round of 16).

The Aussie Stingers lead from the outset, marking their mark in the first quarter with a 5-1 lead. Goal keepers Gabi Palm and Genevieve Longman were crucial in goals, letting in only 5 from their Brazilian opponents.

Tokyo Olympian Bronte Halligan was, again, the top goal scorer for the Aussie Stinger with five, closely followed by Amy Ridge on three, with Zoe Arancini, Tilly Kearns and Hayley Ballesty scoring two each, and Tenealle Fasala, Bridget Leeson-Smith and Abby Andrews all scoring one.

Ridge said having won all three pool matches gives the Stingers great confidence as they head into the final stages.

"We're really excited to get the win today, and topped our pool here in Sopron," Ridge said.

"We've finished our job here, and what we set out to do - we're excited to move to Budapest and onwards towards the quarter final," she said.

Aussie Stingers Head Coach Paul Oberman said he was really proud of his team for their efforts they displayed.

"We kept on creating the opportunities, we just need to make sure we convert those opportunities," Oberman said.

"Defensively it was a really good game, I'm quite happy with the way that we're playing.

"If we continue in this way, we'll go a long way in this tournament," he said.

GAME 2 - WOMEN - AUSTRALIA 11 d NEW ZEALAND 2

The Aussie Stingers have notched up their second win of the FINA World Championships in Budapest overnight against trans tasman rivals New Zealand.

Keen to extend their top of the table lead, the Aussie Stingers were looking for a dominant performance against their Kiwi rivals.

The Aussie Stingers came out firing, outscoring the Kiwis 3-1 in the first quarter, before extending their lead to 7-2 at half time.

In the second half, a strong Aussie Stingers defence bolstered by a formidable Gabi Palm in goals, saw the Aussies keep the Kiwis at bay, and scoreless in both the third and fourth quarters.

In the end, the Aussies claimed a nine-goal victory, 11-2, cementing their place at the top of Group C, with one game to go.

Aussie Stingers Head Coach Paul Oberman was really pleased with the game, and said it was their work in defence that really shone through.

“We had a great start to that game, and the 7-2 lead at half time really set us up,” Oberman said.

“We managed to keep up a good and fast pace throughout, but our main focus was on defence.

We wanted to really limit the opportunities that they had, and for us to run and stun a little bit,” he said.

Tokyo Olympian Bronte Halligan was the top goal scorer of the game, earning her the Player of the Match title.

“It was a really good game today - we got up early and managed to hold on to the lead,” Halligan said.

“It was a really fast paced game which was also a really nice challenge.

“We played our style, which we’ve been wanting to do this entire tournament, so it was a really good second hit out at the World Championships,” she said.

The Aussie Stingers will have another rest day, before their final pool match on Saturday 25 June against Brazil at 2am AEST.

Results

FULL TIME: AUS 11 - NZL 2

QUARTER TIME: 3-1, 4-1, 3-0, 1-0

AUSTRALIA: 1. Gabi Palm 2. Pascalle Casey 3. Tenealle Fasala 4. Bronte Halligan (3) 5. Bridget Leeson-Smith 6. Abby Andrews (1) 7. Charlize Andrews (1) 8. Amy Ridge (1) 9. Zoe Arancini (2) 10. Lena Mihailovic (1) 11. Tilly Kearns (1) 12. Hayley Ballesty (1) 13. Genevieve Longman

For full results - click here

GAME 1 - WOMEN - AUSTRALIA 19 d KAZAKHSTAN 6

The Aussie Stingers have kick started their 2022 FINA World Championships with a 19-6 win over Kazakhstan.

It was history repeating in Hungary, the last time these two sides met in the World Championships opener in 2017, the Stingers also delivered a strong win.

Eager to make their mark on the 2022 competition early, the Aussie Stingers came out firing, outscoring Kazakhstan 6-1 in the first quarter.

But it was in the second quarter that the Aussies ran away with it, and experience came to the fore, notching up 9 goals and managing to keep Kazakhstan to one.

It was a big night for the Aussie Stingers who saw eight players make their World Championships debut.

Captain Zoe Arancini was the top scorer of the game with five goals of her own, earning her the Player of the Match title.

Tokyo Olympians Bronte Halligan, Abby Andrews and Tilly Kearns all scored three, closely followed by Lena Mihailovic with two.

Results

FULL TIME: AUS 19 - KAZ 6

QUARTER TIME: 6-1, 9-1, 3-3, 1-1

AUSTRALIA: 1. Gabi Palm 2. Pascalle Casey (1) 3. Tenealle Fasala (1) 4. Bronte Halligan (3) 5. Bridget Leeson-Smith 6. Abby Andrews (3) 7. Charlize Andrews (1) 8. Amy Ridge 9. Zoe Arancini (5) 10. Lena Mihailovic (2) 11. Tilly Kearns (3) 12. Hayley Ballesty 13. Genevieve Longman

For full results - click here

The Aussie Stingers will have a day off, before returning to the pool on Thursday 23 June (2am AEST) against trans tasman rivals New Zealand. Click here to watch live on 9now.