China won the FINA World League
crown for the first time in Beijing last month and should have had the
ascendancy for much of the encounter. However, the 3-1 opening quarter
proved not enough.

Then came a scintillating third period in which
Australia made it six in a row at major events over China and 20 of
their 23 at World Championships.

The turning point was when Nicola
Zagame scored on a hugely open counter attack for 5-5 and then superior
defence led to a tidal wave of goals at the other end. Zoe Arancini
made it 7-5 with a controversial goal that Chinese goalkeeper Jun Yang
grabbed in what was determined as being behind the line. On the next
Aussie Stingers attack, captain Bronwen Knox, playing in 249th
international, shot under the arm of her defender, the ball turned
sharply to the right off the water and into goal for 8-5. Zagame and Ash
Southern finished the onslaught before the final break.

Southern
added another a the top of the fourth, Isobel Bishop drilled two
left-handed shots and Rowie Webster, who opened the scoring for
Australia, closed it with a faltering shot from two metres.

Australia
and China did not meet in Beijing last month, where China was first and
Australia seventh. That was testament more to the quality of the
tournament where anyone could have won but it was China, who lost its
first three matches, won the ones that counted.

Match 10: 10:50, Group B, AUSTRALIA 14 CHINA 5
Quarters: 1-3, 3-2, 6-0, 4-0
Referees: Mario Bianchi (ITA), Axel Bender (GER).
Extra Man: AUS: 3/4. CHN: 1/3

Teams:
AUSTRALIA: Lea Barta, Jayde Appel, Hannah Buckling, Holly Lincoln-Smith (1), Isobel Bishop (2), Bronwen Knox (1), Rowena Webster (2), Glencora McGhie (3), Zoe Arancini (1), Ashleigh Southern (2), Keesja Gofers, Nicola Zagame (2), Kelsey Wakefield. Head Coach: Greg McFadden.
CHINA: Jun Yang, Fei Teng, Ping Liu (2), Yujun Sun (1), Jin He, Yating Sun, Donglun Song, Lu Xu, Xiaohan Mei, Huanhuan Ma (1), Cong Zhang (1), Qun Xia, Ying Wang. Head Coach: Alexander Kleymenov.

FLASH QUOTES:

Nicola Zagame (AUS):
“We played well as a team, we had a lot of doubts at the beginning. The third quarter was the most important one because we came together as a team.”
Ashleigh Southern (AUS):
“I scored an awesome goal in the fourth quarter swimming the whole pool, because I had come from the bench and I was fresh. We have great expectations for the tournament because we are first in the group, but I prefer to focus on the next game. In Australia we have good facilities to train in the capital Canberra, but media coverage is still poor because other sports are more popular.”
Ma Huanhuan (CHN):
“We were winning at half time and then it has been a big surprise. The coach changed the team with too many young players.”
Sun Yujun (CHN):
“I feel disappointed. After the Olympic Games we changed a lot of players who aren’t strong enough as they are too young.”