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Italians trump Aussies in messy Beijing tussle

 

Italians trump Aussies in messy Beijing tussle

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AOC
Italians trump Aussies in messy Beijing tussle

WATER POLO: The Australian women's water polo team suffered a heartbreaking 12-11 loss to Italy on Monday despite a stirring final quarter comeback at the FINA World League Super Finals in China.

WATER POLO: The Australian women's water polo team suffered a heartbreaking 12-11 loss to Italy on Monday despite a stirring final quarter comeback at the FINA World League Super Finals in China.

The Stingers had a horror middle two quarters which left them trailing 11-6 with a term to play.

In a game punctuated by exclusions and penalties, Italian star Roberta Bianconi and Australian Olympian Glencora Ralph were ejected for fighting late in third period.

Australia led 2-1 early but, by the first break, it was 4-3 to Italy and, from then on, it was all downhill for the Stingers until they recovered to go on a 5-0 run in the last period to level the scores with two minutes to play.

Italy scored the winner with less than a minute on the clock.

Rowie Webster top-scored for Australia with three goals, while Zoe Arancini helped kick start the Australian comeback with a pair in the last quarter.

Australian head coach Greg McFadden rued his side's sleepy middle two quarters and lamented the style of the game in which exclusions occurred almost every minute.

"We rushed and panicked in the first to third quarters and didn't adapt to what they were playing," McFadden said.

"The last quarter was great but we should have come away with a draw (and forced a shootout).

"It was an ugly game. How many exclusions were there (32)? We went through four pairs of bathers, the first we have lost this week."

Australia will play Hungary in their quarter-final on Tuesday. The two teams played out an epic extra-time thriller, won 13-11 by the Stingers, at the London Olympics.

AAP