Barcelona Women’s Water Polo World Championships 2013
Warrington Swimming Club member Hazel Musgrove has been selected for The British Gas GBR Women’s Water Polo for the FINA World Championships 2013 which are being held in Barcelona in July.
The squad of 13 features Hazel who is one of the eight Olympians and three players making their senior debuts for the British team.
National Performance Director for British Water Polo Graeme Thompson said: “-This is an exciting time for British Water Polo, returning to the World Championships for the first time since 2003 to continue the excellent progress made by the team in recent years.”
“Selection has been really difficult this year, which is a pleasing aspect and reflects a growing competition for places in the squad.”
“There are some new faces on the team who join some of our experienced players.”
“We are now looking to work hard as a team, adjust to our new line up and make the best preparations possible for the competition in Barcelona.”
This year the British Water Polo team will make their return to the World Championships for the first time in 10 years after making their Olympic debut at the London 2012 Games and finishing in seventh place at the European Championships last year.
Following the Olympics British Water Polo saw an increase in funding from £2.9m for both teams to £4.5m dedicated to the women’s programme.
Preparation for World Championships
The British Gas GBR Water Polo team has recently continued their preparations ahead of the FINA World Championships competing in the Dunaujvaros Cup in Hungary.
The team competed with world class opposition from Holland, Russia - the reigning World Championship bronze medallists - and the hosts Hungary, the current European bronze medallists.
“This has been a valuable trip in our preparations for the World Championships “- NPD Graeme Thompson
The Brits were in action in the opening game against Russia. All but one of the quarters were tight encounters but a strong third enabled the Russians to complete the 19-13 victory.
The second match saw GBR take on the hosts, with Hungary taking an early lead in the opening quarter, 6-3. However GBR stayed strong through the rest of the match, finishing with a 5-4 win in the fourth quarter with the game ultimately finishing 15-12 to Hungary.
In their final match versus the Dutch, the Brits got off to a disappointing start, losing the opening quarter 7-2. They picked up the competition in the rest of the match but eventually lost 21-11.
Graeme Thompson, National Performance Director, said: “This has been a valuable trip in our preparations for the World Championships.
“The players are continuing to respond well to the new coaching team direction and guidance and it is encouraging to see increasing attacking play and goals from us. However to compliment that, we need to improve our defence, across various game situations.
Programme for Barcelona
The GBR Team are scheduled to play their group games in the following sessions:
Sunday 21st July – Session 2; 5.30pm match; Canada vs GBR
Tuesday 23rd July – Session 3; 12.10pm match; GBR vs Greece
Thursday 25th July – Session 5; 9.30am match; USA vs GBR
The rest of the schedule is as follows.
|
Quarter-final Qualification |
||
|
27th July (Sat) |
||
|
Session 7 |
9.30am |
(25) 1st A vs 4th B |
|
10.50am |
(26) 2nd A vs 3rd B |
|
|
12.10pm |
(27) 1st B vs 4th A |
|
|
1.30pm |
(28) 2nd B vs 3rd A |
|
|
Session 8 |
5.30pm |
(29) 1st C vs 4th D |
|
6.50pm |
(30) 2nd C vs 3rd D |
|
|
8.10pm |
(31) 1st D vs 4th C |
|
|
9.30pm |
(32) 2nd D vs 3rd C |
|
|
Quarter-finals |
||
|
29th July (Mon) |
||
|
Session 9 |
3.30pm |
(33) W25 vs W30 |
|
5.00pm |
(34) W27 vs W32 |
|
|
Session 10 |
8.15pm |
(35) W29 vs W26 |
|
10.50pm |
(36) W31 vs W28 |
|
|
Semi-finals |
||
|
31st July (Wed) |
||
|
Session 11 |
3.30pm |
(37) L33 vs L34 |
|
5.00pm |
(38) L35 vs L36 |
|
|
Session 12 |
8.15pm |
(39) W33 vs W34 |
|
10.50pm |
(40) W35 vs W36 |
|
|
Finals |
||
|
2nd August (Fri) |
||
|
Session 13 |
10am |
(41) 7th/8th L37 vs L38 |
|
11.30am |
(42) 5th/6th W37 vs W38 |
|
|
1.00pm |
(43) 3rd/4th L39 vs L40 |
|
|
Session 14 |
9.45pm |
(44) 1st/2nd W39 vs W40 |
Based on the team finishing 3rd or 4th in their group, then they will be playing in session 8 (even if Spain move their match to the 9.30pm slot).
If you are not travelling to Barcelona, you should be able to watch through FINA TV, available on the www.fina.org website. An App is also available for you to stream FINA events through mobile devices.