The 17th Elite World Championship of Underwater Hockey 2011 were held in COIMBRA, PORTUGAL, 16 – 27 August 2011. These championships were organised by The Portuguese Federation of Underwater Activities (FPAS).
Congratulations to both teams! Fantastic results!
Australian Mens team won Gold, defeating South Africa 6 – 1 in the grand final.
Australian Womens team won Silver, losing 1 – 3 to Great Britain in their grand final.
See the Mens Team profiles and the Womens Team profiles on the 2011 World Championships Website and also see the full list of results.
Aust Womens Coach, Tommy Solopotias, had a blog post on the World Championships in Portugal in 2011. The post is no longer available but here are a couple of extracts:
“The women’s final was fought out between 2 countries with very similar views on the game. Without getting into the detail, the plan for us was to throw GBR off by neutralising their strength area. The girls did everything I asked of them and the English game plan turned into just guts and effort but the strength they maintained in their back line was unmovable on the day. They did to us what we normally do to other teams, get off to a 2 goal lead quickly and spend the rest of the game settling into a rhythm. Typically going 2 goals down in the first 5 minutes makes it a big mountain to climb thereafter; not impossible but in a final it is that much harder.”
“The men’s final was one of the most clinical displays of finishing I have ever seen at any level. The boys spluttered along in low gear for much of the comp, just getting by on the bare minimum and I wondered if they would ever kick into gear. But when it counted they certainly pulled out the stops and destroyed RSA with an impressive 5:1 score.”
