20 good minutes were clearly not enough for Sydney Uni to keep up with Brazilian champions Taubate today. While the result of 18:38 in the end looked brutal, Sydney’s first half was very competitive actually.

The critical situation occurred after 29 minutes. The boys in blue and gold had fought back from a 1:5 deficit at the start, 12:14 on the scoreboard and ball in hand. The chance to close the gap to one goal before the whistle was squandered with a technical error, and a missed shot 30 seconds later, and so the half time result was 12:16 instead of 13:14.

In the second half, the very physical and experienced Brazilians steadily increased their lead, and with Sydney’s power and accuracy waning, Taubate’s goals started to come easily. With a comeback less and less likely, Sydney’s coaches gave the whole squad plenty of court time.

Now, Sydney will play Asian champions Al-Najma for 7th place on Friday (9pm Sydney time, 12pm Europe time) – the focus still firmly on bringing home a win from Doha.

Sydney Uni HC vs. Taubate 18:38 (12:16)

Sydney Uni HC played with: Ritschel, Takken; Roby (1), Haon (1), Valenzuela (3), Andre, Faurschou (2), Sancho (2), Mahdizadeh, Deniault, Vecten (3), Szklarski (3), Perronneau (2), Traverso, Oliveira, Le Petit (1). Coaches: Roth, Puyhardy