British Women Gearing Up for Crunch Qualifier
September 23, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
British women’s team gear up for crunch European Water Polo Championships qualifier with the Ukraine in Manchester on Saturday evening.
On Saturday Great Britain women’s water polo team are taking on the Ukraine in their penultimate qualifier for the 2012 European Championships.
Following on from their bronze medal win at the Four Nations tournament earlier this week, spirits are high and the girls will be confident of negotiating their way in to the championships for the first time since 1997.
England edged out rivals Germany in their final match at the Four Nations to earn their second victory over them in that tournament; 10-9.
Spain sit top of their European qualification group and have already booked their place in the tournament, which takes place in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in January at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium.
But Britain and the Ukraine sit level on points in second and third respectively with four points each from their four qualifiers thus far.
With two matches left each - England take on bottom-placed Israel, who have zero points from their four qualifiers, away in October - tomorrow’s match is probably the one to decide who qualifies as Ukraine must play the dominant Spain in their final fixture.
Having already beaten the Ukraine 11-7 away back in March, captain Fran Leighton is confident the girls can pull through tomorrow.
“The first two quarters should be close but then we should be fine in the third and fourth quarters,” said the 29-year-old. “That should hopefully mean that we’re definitely in the ‘A’s, which will be in January 2012 in Holland and is one of our key targets getting ready for London [Olympics next summer].”
The match takes place at the Manchester Aquatics Centre with seats to be taken by 17:45 local time, and kick-off at 18:00.
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Yu Diving]
