Turkey's national underwater hockey team secured the third spot in 20th Underwater Hockey World Championship held in Canada's Quebec between July 18 and July 28.
New Zealand grabbed the first spot and was followed by France. The Turkish victory came after a 2-1 win against British national team. The championship, in which 14 countries participated, started off with an upset for Turkish side that conceded a 3-2 defeat to the British team in its first match. It was followed by another defeat; but in 10 matches, the Turkish side managed to snatch eight victories.
Among them is first underwater hockey victory against Australia, in the tournament's quarter finals. A 3-1 defeat to New Zealand sealed off the chances of a win for the Turkish team that scored 35 in total in 10 games. Şahin Özen, head of the Turkish Underwater Sports Federation, criticized referees for the "unfair" defeat to Great Britain but said they were "proud and happy" in the end. "In the New Zealand game, the referee cancelled one goal and we had an undeserved penalty later. The team was low on morale," Özen said.
