New Zealand U20 men win gold at Australia Cup, Phillips named MVP

Fresh off the men’s camp in December and U20 men’s camp earlier this month, the 15-strong New Zealand U20 men’s team have won gold at the Australia Cup in Canberra.

The opening day of competition saw the team victorious over Singapore, who, after some pre-tournament scrimmages, captain Cole Phillips dubbed as one of the teams to challenge New Zealand for the cup title. Phillips was named Player of the Match against Singapore, with the win setting the tone for the remainder of the tournament.

The second day of competition saw a further two wins for the New Zealand team, outplaying Sunshine Coast in the morning and then going on to deliver a dominant performance against Richmond in the afternoon. Alistar Rogers was awarded Player of the Match against Sunshine Coast, while Sherif Hosni got given the honours in the match against Richmond.

Day three saw our U20 men play their final round robin match prior the semi finals kicking off in the afternoon. The team faced off against the Canberra Kraken, with our U20 men once again victorious – taking the win by six goals (12–6) by attacking strong from the opening of the match. Harry Irwin was named Player of the Match.

Heading into the semi-finals as the top seeded team, the lads were up against Sunshine Coast for a spot in the gold medal match. Having already taken a convincing win over the team earlier in the tournament, it was deja vu as our New Zealand U20 men dominated from start to finish to win by a margin of 23 goals – with Ashwyn Keshvara named Player of the Match.

Meanwhile, Canberra Kraken and Singapore faced off in a fierce battle for the spot in the gold medal match, with it going to penalty shoot out before the Kraken came out on top.

The gold medal match saw our U20 men take on the Canberra Kraken once again, with the match up proving to bring some great water polo. New Zealand were in control from the get-go, however Canberra put up a strong fight throughout. Ultimately, our U20 men came out on top to take home the Australia Cup title, outscoring the Kraken by 3 goals (12–3). Cole Phillips was named Player of the Match, and later named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Tournament teams were selected for the Australia Cup, highlighting stand-out players from the tournament. Cole Phillips, Sherif Hosni and Alistar Rogers were named to the First Seven, while Oliver Schnauer was named to the Second Seven.

The U20 squad now set their focus on building toward the World Aquatics U20 Water Polo Championships, to be held in Croatia mid-year.