Gregory Eggert, World Aquatics Correspondent
Thirteen players from the Great Britain women’s water polo team arrived in Doha undaunted by the team's history. Energised from their recent success at the European Water Polo Championships, they looked for more wins on the world stage.
With coach Nick Buller at the helm, the team enjoyed milestone victories over South Africa and Kazakhstan in their fourth-ever World Aquatics Championship appearance.
The Brits earned their spot for Doha as a result of solid play and a bit of good luck at the Europeans in the Netherlands just last month. A pivotal moment was the fierce battle they were expecting with Israel in Eindhoven. However the top Israeli scorer was excluded in the previous match and she was banned from play against the British team.
The evenly The team from GB finished 9th out of 9 teams competing at the inaugural world championships held in Madrid in 1986. Seventeen years later the British women played in the 2003 Barcelona World Championships to a disappointing 16th place. Their closest match in World Championship competition was a 5-6 loss to Venezuela on July 19, 2023 at the Piscines Bernat Picornell, the same venue which hosted the 1992 Olympic Games.
Great Britain’s third competition on the Iberian peninsula was at the 2013 World Championships, returning to Barcelona ten years after the previous championships. Eleven years ago in their third appearance at the World Championship, the British women lost each of their matches to Canada, Greece, Hungary and the USA. They would earn a 13th-place finish in the 1- team tournament.
In Doha the British campaign at these 2024 World Aquatics Championships began with a 10-22 loss to the Italians in their first match. Two days later the team from Canada scored 20 goals against the 5 delivered by the British women. Following two consecutive losses the team’s goal of a top-three finish in their group was in jeopardy if they failed to beat their next opponent, South Africa.
In a shining moment, the team’s 14-5 vanquish of South Africa marked their first-ever victory in World Championship history. Three goals from Toula Falvey, two apiece for team captain Kathy Rogers, Katie Brown and Lily Turner and goals from Katy Cutler, Annie Clapperton, Lotte van Wingerden, Brooke Tafazolli and Amelia Peters combined for all-round performance. Player-of-the-match Rogers said: “We knew the first two games would be really challenging but this was the game we focused on. To come out here and put together a strong team feels fantastic. It’s been the craziest six months. From European qualification where we were the lowest-ranked team going in to be here at the World Champs, it’s just been a wild ride.”
It was doubly sweet as their victory also guaranteed a place in the top 12 teams – one position higher than the team managed in Barcelona more than a decade agomatched battle between the Brits and Israel was tied at 9 at the end of regulation time. Team GB won in a penalty shootout, 14-13. In the next match they lost to the Dutch women who were both the reigning World Champions and soon to become the 2024 European Champions. The British players delivered an 11-9 victory over Croatia to qualify for the last available spot for Doha. The GB women became one of the top three teams outside of the quartet of teams that had already qualified for the World Championships in Doha.
The women of Team GB knew the history of those who stood on the pool decks at the World Champs well before their arrival in Doha. Britain’s women had played in three previous World Championships; coincidentally all in Spain, but they had never previously achieved a victory at the world championships.
None of the British women had played at a previous world championship as Team GB last competed at the 2013 World Championships. But all 13 athletes in Doha were part of the team that placed seventh at the January European Championships in Eindhoven. Head coach Buller was joined on the British bench by assistant Peggy Etiebet who brings Worlds experience to the British team as she was a member of the GB squad that competed in 2013. Additionally, Rose Younger, the team manager, played for GB at the 1986 inaugural of the FINA World Championships.
In the women's crossover match Australia, one of five nations that had competed at each of the 17 world championships, would stop the GB winning streak at one. The team from down under soundly defeated Great Britain by a 20-8 margin.
Intent on being challenged by the world’s best teams, an improved Great Britain squad was defeated 15-10 by China in the classification stage for the 9-12th place. The Asian Games champions finished the tournament in 10th place. GB’s Lily Turner found the net 4 times in the loss.
In their final match Great Britain’s women confirmed an eleventh place finish at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha with a narrow 8-6 victory against Kazakhstan in the 11-12 place classification match. Goalkeeper Sophie Jackson stopped 16 shots and Brooke Tafazolli scored four goals in GB’s second victory in the World Championship tournament.
Britain’s 5 victories at the European Championships and two wins at the World Championships were significant achievements for the team that was eager to prove they are focused on a brighter future.