Enfield’s Charlie Briers is flying out to Malta today (March 10th) with the rest of the Great Britain Under-17 water polo squad.
The team will then have two days to prepare for their opening Baku 2015 European Games Water Polo Qualifier against Germany on Thursday at the Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex pool near Valletta.
The Tal-Qroqq Swimming Pool in Malta
The squad – coached by GB London 2012 captain Craig Figes – to face Germany, Malta, Switzerland and Latvia is: James Barker (GK), Owain Llewellyn (GK), Ben Tinkler-Davies, Ashley Castle, Spencer Wilks, Kamz Powell, Sam Alberici, Ben Riding, Hamish Hudson, James Warman, CHARLIE BRIERS, Scott Wilson and Ben Greenhill.
The Germany U-17 team will prove tough opposition as they are in fine form, having won two recent preparation tournaments.
Coach Sebastian Berthold’s men beat Belarus (16-7), Poland (25-5), Ukraine (16-11) and Austria (37-2) in Gorzow, Poland.
In Novaky, Slovakia, they also didn’t lose a tournament game – triumphing over Romania (12-8), Slovakia (14-11) and France (10-9).
Germany began their final warm-up preparations last Friday in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim against the Netherlands and France.
Great Britain’s final game in Malta is on Saturday 14th March against the hosts, who have been in Ostia, on the outskirts of Rome, for the past week fine-tuning their tactics.
Malta under-17 coach Karl Izzo took a 14-member squad to the Italian capital to play four friendly games – against Italy’s junior side, Lazio (Serie B), Roma Nuoto (U20) and Roma Visnova (U20).
Elsewhere, former Enfield water polo star Chris Dean is heading to France to cheer on his daughter, Izzy Dean, who will captain the Great Britain women’s under-17 team.
The women travelled to Bratislava last weekend for a final warm-up tournament against Slovakia, Czech Republic and France ahead of their first qualifying match against Portugal on Thursday.
In Bratislava, the GB girls won two games, against the Czech Republic (17-14) and France (15-5), and lost against Slovakia (8-13).
Great Britain under-17 women’s warm-up tournament schedule in Bratislava. Credit: Chris Dean
The top two teams from the tournaments in Malta and France will qualify for the Baku 2015 European Games, which will be held June 12-28.
For a report on GB under-17 girls v Czech Republic, click here
For a report on GB under-17 girls v France, click here
For a report on GB under-17 girls v Switzerland, click here
For a report on GB under-17 boys v Latvia, click here
For a report on GB under-17 boys v Germany, click here
For a report on GB under-17 boys v Switzerland, click here
For a report on GB under-17 boys v Malta, click here
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Men’s Under-17 European Baku 2015 Games
Qualification Tournament, Malta
Final standings in Malta:
| Pos | Team | P | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 136 | 17 | 12 |
| 2 | Malta | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 84 | 32 | 9 |
| 3 | GB | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 78 | 27 | 6 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 61 | 3 |
| 5 | Latvia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 211 | 0 |
Remaining fixtures:
Thursday, 12 March 2015:
17:00 Germany 19 -7 Great Britain
18:15 Malta 51-0 Latvia
Friday, 13 March 2015:
09:00 Latvia 0-53 Great Britain
10:15 Switzerland 4-20 Malta
17:00 Germany 67-2 Latvia
18:15 Great Britain 12-1 Switzerland
Saturday, 14 March 2015
17:00 Germany 28-2 Switzerland
18:15 Great Britain 6-7 Malta
Sunday, 15 March 2015:
09:30 Malta 6-22 Germany
10:45 Switzerland 40-1 Latvia
Referees: ACHLADIOTIS Spyridon (GRE); MARES Ivo (CZE); MELNICOV Serghei (MDA); SANADZE Irakli (GEO); VAN DER LOO Peter (NED)
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Women’s Under-17 European Baku 2015 Games
Qualification Tournament, France
| Pos | Team | P | W | T | L | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 23 | 12 |
| 2 | GB | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 76 | 24 | 7 |
| 3 | Czech R | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 33 | 7 |
| 4 | Portugal | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 61 | 3 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 74 | 0 |
Group A
Thursday, 12 March 2015:
18:00 Portugal 3-26 Great Britain
19:15 France 25-2 Switzerland
Friday, 13 March 2015:
09:00 Portugal 5-4 Switzerland
10:15 Czech Republic 8-8 Great Britain
18:00 Czech Republic 14-6 Portugal
19:15 France 13-12 Great Britain
Saturday, 14 March 2015
18:00 Switzerland 5-14 Czech Republic
19:15 France 17-2 Portugal
Sunday, 15 March 2015:
09:00 Switzerland 0-30 Great Britain
10:15 France 14-7 Czech Republic
Referees: CAN CIGER Gökhan (TUR); GERASIMOV Ognian (BUL); KUNIKOVA Martina (SVK); MATACHE Radu Sorin (ROU); RADICEVIC Vlaho (CRO)