Despite a 12-9 defeat at the hands of the Spanish on Monday in the quarter-finals of the World Aquatic Sports Championships, the hope of Canadian polo players to participate in the Paris Olympic Games remains.
In the fight for the last two available Olympic spots, Hungary beat the Netherlands 13-12, in a shootout, to secure the penultimate bye. The other team vying for a ticket, Italy, was defeated by Greece 14-12. There is therefore only one last place left at stake in the women’s Olympic tournament.
“We were ready for the game, but we started it a little late. And once we were in the game, it was too little, too late. […] It’s bittersweet: we are playing well, but our level is below them at the moment,” commented head coach David Paradelo in an interview with Sportcom, late Monday evening, Doha time where the worlds are presented.
Montreal’s Axelle Crevier led the Canadian team with three goals, followed by Laval’s Shae La Roche who scored twice. Serena Browne, Élyse Lemay-Lavoie, Verica Bakoc and Marilia Mimides also registered on the scoreboard.
“We started slowly, but we finished the game well, showing a lot of character. Spain are one of the teams to beat and we gave them good opposition, but now we have to move on to Australia, a team we know well, having participated in a training camp with them », Supported Axelle Crevier.
Ontarian Jessica Gaudreault kept her team in the match in front of the Canadian net, except that the Spanish maintained their lead from their first goal. On the other side of the pool, the Canadians were unable to outwit the Spanish goalkeeper Martina Terre who made several key saves.
“Scoring two goals in a half in water polo is really not enough. The machine [à l’attaque] took a while to get going. There was an awakening in the second half and more intensity in our counter-attacks,” added the Canadian pilot.
The Montrealer gathered his players in the evening to prepare for the rest of the tournament.
“We want to build on our second half of the match against Spain who are vice-world champion and European vice-champion. They have the best center forwards in the world and we were able to put pressure on them. There are a lot of positives in this defeat. »
On Wednesday, Canada will play Australia in its first classification match for places 5 to 8, while the Italians will meet the Dutch. If Canada wins and Italy loses, the Canadian women will go to the Games.
If Canada loses and Italy wins, the carrots will be cooked for the Canadians. Finally, if Canada and Italy both win or lose, the two teams will find themselves in a duel for an Olympic ticket and incidentally for fifth or seventh place in the world table.