Australia needed to win to beat Canada to the third WOQT qualification spot
Tokyo, Japan, June 5, 2016 – Australia coach Roberto Santilli and captain Thomas Edgar expressed their disappointment that their team couldn't manage a key victory against Poland to clinch an Olympic qualification ticket.
Olympic Qualification Process
Australia coach Roberto Santilli: “It's tough to comment about this game. We worked the whole tournament to get to this point, where we had a chance to qualify. We just collapsed in the last game. As the coach I feel responsible for the performance of the players.”
Australia captain Thomas Edgar: It's a crushing loss. We had a chance to secure a trip to the Olympics today. Poland has a deep team with many world-class players. I feel a bit lost, a bit empty. It's tough to put into words about today's game.”
Meanwhile,
Poland coach Stephane Antiga utilised his reserve players and their 3-0 win confirmed his team is ready to compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: “This match was not as important for us than as for China, Australia and Canada. I just wanted my team to play well and to play well at the Olympics. I am very happy all my players will be playing in the World League. It’s confirmed we have 14 strong players on our team. We have many strong players. Even though they may have looked like reserves, many of them played in earlier matches.”
Poland captain Michal Kubiak: “The players we used played an amazing game today. We wanted to win the last game. We did our job and won 3-0. It was not easy, but we did what we were supposed to do.”