Chile has won the first placement match of the President’s Cup in Guadalajara on Tuesday (22 January), as Australia finished 24th and last like they did since 2005.

Placement match 23/24:

Chile – Australia 32:23 (17:10)

More than 1000 screaming, shouting and cheering school children in Guadalajara created a brilliant atmosphere for the final day of the President’s Cup, supporting all participating teams in a frenetic way.

Australia have to wait for another two years for their second ever victory at a Men’s World Championship after they had beaten Greenland in 2003. Like in all six matches before the Aussies showed fighting spirit, but their competitors were much too strong – though the “Aussies” could keep up quite close with Chile until minute 40. But they earned respect and lost the first match in Spain by a difference of less than ten goals.

Chile really have gained experience since the World Championship debut in Sweden, though their final ranking is even one position lower than in 2011. The Australians were in lead by 4:3 thanks to the saves of goalkeeper Ognjen Latinovic, before Chile turned the page, scoring a 8:2 series in only ten minutes. And the Pan-American bronze medallist even had to replace their best player, Rodrigo Salinas, who scored 31 times in their previous matches.

Despite this loss they forged ahead to a 17:10 at the break – before the “down under” team again showed their passion and character, keeping the distance on the same level until the score of 19:13. But when energy and concentration had left from their bodies, the Chileans scored for the first double-figured result at 26:16 – and latest then the 23rd rank was secured. Chile led by Salinas and the three Feuchtmann brothers in Spain – have gained important experience like in their brilliant opening fight against FYR Macedonia.

Top scorers were Bevan Calvert with eight goals for Australia and Emil Feuchtmann and Patricio Martinez with six goals each for Chile.

Statements after the match:

Taip Ramadani, coach Australia: Chile played fantastic, and as mentioned before this tournament was very difficult for us. But we still hope that we improve in future.

Caleb Gahan, player Australia: The result is good for us, as we arrived in Spain with a team with very low experience. We hope that we will return to the World Championship in two years.

Luis Capurro, coach Chile: We showed good spirit and deserved this victory. Still we hope for an improvement. Australia made an evolution during the tournament.

Cristian Moll, player Chile: After a difficult start we improved, especially in defence and could accelerate to score more and faster goals.