The Australian All Stars, spearheaded by a stunning performance from goalkeeper Luke Quinlivan (UWA Torpedoes), beat Fremantle Mariners 10-5 in the final at Bicton Pool last night.

The perennial finalists could not get the better of the vibrant youngsters of the All Stars, coached by triple Olympian Andrei kovalenko.

It was the first all-Australian final in a tournament that saw reigning champion Partizan Belgrade finish with the bronze medal ahead of Romanian champion Oradea with Olympic host China in fifth spot.

In the final in another packed session with 2000 supporters, Jamie Beadsworth opened the scoring for Fremantle from centre forward but Anthony Martin and Billy Miller sent in missiles from the top later in the first period for a 2-1 lead at the quarter.

The energetic left-hander Chris Dyson upset the home team with two goals in the second quarter, one from the penalty line and the other off a free throw shot for 4-1.

Daniel Lawrence, who also had an exceptional tournament, pulled one back on extra 3:27 but Perry Short took it to 5-2 from left-hand catch.

Lawrence scored a repeat shot at 2:41 for 5-3, which proved the halftime score.

Ryan Moody opened the second half with a backhand shot from two metres and Miller sent the score soaring with a long shot. Lawrence scored his third for 7-4 with another outside shot.

Celebrations were short-lived as Nathan Cargill converted on extra for the All Stars.

Fremantle could not penetrate the brilliant goalkeeping of Quinlivan and the starting seven was tiring meaning coach David Swift had to call upon one or two juniors to rest his flagging stars.

Quinlivan stopped a point-blank shot from Tim Neesham with his face, further frustrating the two-time champions.

The biggest excitement of the final quarter was a turnover on Tim Cleland for accidentally striking his opponent in the face.

Grant Richardson took the game for the All Stars when he scored on extra at 2:20 for 9-4.
Scott Chrystal replied straight away.

Ben Sashegy could have made it 10-5 but his penalty shot bounced up into the crossbar. He regained the ball but couldn’t get another shot away.

The score did reach 10-5 when Cargill shot away on counter to beat Laurie Trettel in goal in the final seconds.

The All Stars beat Romania’s Oradea 8-5 to secure a finals berth in the morning game.

In the bronze-medal play-off in the evening in blustery but warm conditions, Partizan Belgrade bested Oradea 7-4.

Partizan took the early lead but rock-wall defence from both teams saw no further goal in the period.

Oradea took until 6:33 in the second period before scoring its first goal through Dragesh Unkurern from out the top.

The game swung Oradea’s way two minutes later when Andrei Cretsu scored on extra with a rocket, also from the top.
Partizan struck back through Mila Aleksi with a screamer on left-hand catch for a halftime score of 2-all.

Three quick goals at the start of the third period snapped the game back in Partizan’s favour with no more goals coming in the period.

Partizan’s Luka Saponic needed an outside shot on a free throw for a 6-2 lead at the start of the fourth period while Oradea responded midway through the period through Andrei Cretsu with a bouncer from eight metres.

Aleski took the game beyond Oradea with a neatly threaded shot from the top at 2:19 for 7-3.

At 1:58, Oradea’s Cosmin Baidoc lifted the crowd with his own magic for 7-4. A late timeout by Oradea failed to decrease the deficit and Partizan had the bronze medal.
T

he Serbian crowd was more subdued that previous nights, filing out without a whimper after the bronze-medal game.

The previous night they left behind many broken seats and the night before that let off a flare and allegedly threw a bottle into the pool.

Results:
Tom Hoad Cup, day 4:
Australian All Stars 8 (B Miller 2, R Moody, C Dyson, A Martin, AJ Roach, N Cargill, B Sizeulogy) Oradea 5 (G Tarnovetsla 2, C Beidoc, K Kadar, C Malai).
Final points: Fremantle 6, Australian All Stars 6, Partizan 4, Oradea 4, China 2.
Bronze medal: Partizan Belgrade 7 (M Aleski 3, D Basic 2, L Saponic, M Cuk) Oradea 4 (C Baidoc, D Unhurern, G Tarnovetsla, A Cretsu).
Gold medal: Australian All Stars 10 (C Dyson, B Miller, N Cargill 2, R Moody, A Martin, G Richardson, P Short) Fremantle Mariners 5 (D Lawrence 3, J Beadsworth, P Short).
Highest goal-scorer: Djorde Basic (Partizan) 13.

Fremantle beaten by China but into Tom Hoad Cup final
Perth (December 30).—
It should be an all-Australian final in the Tom Hoad Cup men’s water polo tournament at Bicton Pool last night.

Hosts Fremantle Mariners and the Australian All Stars will most probably contest the gold–medal match.

Fremantle suffered a 12-11 loss to China last night while the All Stars, featuring a host of national senior and junior squad members, still have to play and beat Romanian champion Oradea this morning to confirm second place and a shot at the gold medal.

Fremantle could afford the loss and still make the final.

The All Stars, however, held off reigning champions Partizan Belgrade from Serbia 5-4 in a tension-filled game to push for a finals berth.

A heavily supported Partizan were troubled early by the All Stars, trailing 4-1 at the quarter.

While inaccurate shots proved the Serbians’ downfall in the first quarter, the tide turned in the second quarter with a two-goal effort by a team containing nine players of the Serbian national junior team that finished fourth at this year’s FINA world championships in Los Angeles.

The All Stars, in turn headed by four players who gained a bronze medal at the FINA World League Super Finals in Berlin, Germany in August, struggled in the third and allowed Partizan to level the game late in the quarter when Miroslav Randic blasted one off a free throw from well outside.

Both coaches had already been dealt a yellow card but remained agitated in the final quarter.

Queenslander Billy Miller broke the deadlock two minutes into the period off a free-throw shot.

The best chance for Partizan came in the second-last minute when Ryan Moody was ousted for back-chatting.
The ensuing Partizan shot hit the crossbar and that dimmed the Europeans’ chances of making the final.

Fremantle started strongly against China, leading 3-0 at the quarter but China had the game at 4-all in the second before a late Tibor Seress goal gave the Mariners a 5-4 margin at the long break.

China turned the tables in the second half, firing back in the third quarter with two long shots and one on extra to take a 7-6 lead.

Tim Cleland had a penalty shot stopped by Chinese captain Ge Wei Qing and Tai Tei Ha increased the difference to 8-6 on the next attack.

Adam Richardson on extra and Tim Neesham on a counter-attack cross pass had the game back at level pegging in just over a minute.

China went to 11-9 ahead halfway through the final stanza and despite a fractured Fremantle comeback, held on to win.

In the morning game, Fremantle slowly built an 11-7 victory against Oradea with some excellent counter-attack goals and superior ball-handling in front of goal.

Oradea struggled to make opportunities with the ball constantly trying to find Romanian international Kalman Kadar at centre forward.

Two missed penalty attempts by Oradea were typical of the team’s luck.

Oradea will play the All Stars at 11am today in the final round match with the bronze-medal encounter at 7.15pm and the final at 8.45pm.

Results:
Tom Hoad Cup, day 3, Bicton Pool: Fremantle Mariners 11 (A Younger 3, T Cleland, T Neesham 2, A Richardson, T Seress, J Beadsworth) Oradea 7 (G Tarnovetsla 3, K Kadar 2, Z Ridzyk, C Malai), Australian All Stars 5 (R Moody, B Miller, G Richardson, AJ Roach, N Cargill) Partizan Belgrade 4 (D Basic, M Randic, P Ivosevic, J Cakic), China  12 (Tai Tei Hu 4, Liu Si Wei, Liang Zhong Xin, Xie Jun Min 2, Ping Nin) Fremantle Mariners 11 (D Lawrence 3, T Cleland, T Seress, T Neesham 2, A Richardson, A Younger).
Progress points: Fremantle 6, Partizan Belgrade 4, All Stars 4, Oradea 2, China 2.


Late charge secures Freo win over Partizan in Tom Hoad Cup
Perth (December 29).—
Fremantle Mariners moved a step closer to the final of the Tom Hoad Cup international men's water polo tournament when they accounted for Partizan Belgrade 13-10 at Bicton Pool last night. Fremantle may have scored the opening goal but it wasn't until the dying minutes that Australian international Jamie Beadsworth and Hungarian Tibor Seress threw three goals that gave Fremantle the win.

Tim Neesham and Alex Lee both scored equalising goals in the fourth before theier team-mates secured the victory in a game where Partizan was three goals up at halftime.

It was a morale-boosting win in a tight competition that saw the Australian All Stars beat China 10-7 in the morning and then Romania's Oradea inflict a second loss on China — 11-8 — in the evening. 

Djorde Basic again led Partizan with four goals in the first three quarters but was fouled out of the game early in the fourth period.

Partizan suffered badly in the foul count with 18-11 against allowing Fremantle many chances on extra and Tim Cleland the chance to score two penalty goals in the third period in his tally of four.

In today's matches, Fremantle clashes with the Kalman Kadar-led Oradea in the mroning session while in the evening, the Australian All Stars play Partizan and Fremantle backs up against China.

Progress points: Fremantle 4, Partizan 4,  All Stars 2, Oradea 2, China 0.

Partizan Belgrade wins twice on opening day of Tom Hoad Cup
Perth (December 28).—
Partizan Belgrade was the big winner on day one of the Tom Hoad Cup invitational men's water polo tournament aat the Bicton Pool here yesterday.

Containing largely junior players from the club, many of whom have represented Serbia at junior level, downed China 20-6 in the morning match and then fronted and beat Romanian champion Oradea 11-6 in the evening.

Host Fremantle Mariners, 10 times a National Water Polo League grand finalist, held off an Australian All Stars team 9-8. 

Milan Aleksic and Djorde Basic snapped up 11 of the goals against Asian Games champion China with 4-1, 6-2 5-1 and 5-2 quarters.

In the evening, Partizan had it tougher with  3-1, 2-2, 3-1 and 3-2 periods. Basic top-scored with three while Oradea's best was long-term Romanian international Kalman Kadar, also with three.

Fremantle struggled against the All Stars, who are basically all members of Australian national senior and junior squads. Dual Olympian Tim Neesham and Hungarian Tibor Seress claimed three goals each for the victor as the periods went 2-1, 0-1, 3-2 and 4-4 in Fremantle's favour.

The game was level twice in the early stages of the final quarter but Fremantle gained a two-goal lead before Chris Dyson pulled it back to one with his third goal of the period.

In today's matches, China takes on the All Stars in the morning session before clashing with Oradea in th evening. Fremantle will play Partizan Belgrade in the second night match. 

Tom Hoad Cup starts in Perth today
Perth (December 27).—
The fifth annual Tom Hoad Cup starts at Bicton Pool here this morning when the Chinese national team takes on Partizan Belgrade from Serbia at 11am.

The evening games see the champion Romanian club, Oradea, clash with Partizan Belgrade at 7.15pm while host team Fremantle Mariners will play the Australian All Stars at 8.45pm.

Games run through until Sunday when the finals are played with reigning champion Partizan Belgrade the team to watch closely. It contains nine players who competed for Serbia at the FINA Junior men's World Championships in Los Angeles this year, finishing fourth, one spot ahead of Australia.

Melville finalises Tom Hoad Cup line-up
Perth (December 17) —
Melville Water Polo Club has finalised its line-up for the Christmas-New Year Tom Hoad Cup.

The club has acquired reigning champion Partizan-Belgrade, Oradea from Romania, China and an Australian All Star team to play alongside Fremantle Mariners in the December 27-30 event at the Bicton Pool.

The event has had staggering success and come under fire during the year because of the huge number of spectators (up to 2000 a session) and the raucous behaviour of ethnic fans last year when flares were ignited poolside. 

It's the fifth running of the event and Fremantle, twice a winner, will be up against the powerful Partiozan-Belgrade team, which normally contains most of the Serbian national team. Some top liners will be missing from the Perth event.

Oradea has been brought into the fold for the first time and will give Romanians something to cheer about. Oradea will host the Olympic Games Qualification Tournament for men in early March.

China returns after some excellent matches last year while the inclusion of an All Star team means top-ranking players from outside Perth will be given a chance to play in this unique event. As the Aussie Sharks are playing a match against Partizan-Belgrade on Saturday in Perth, it is expected many of these players will front for the All Stars.

Games are played daily with one match in the morning and two in the evening.

There is a junior tournament run in conjunction with the event, featuring teams from Perth and Sydney as well as some from overseas. 

Get all the cup details at www.tomhoadcup.com