Manchester, England (March 30).-- Australia and Canada will clash for goldin both the men¹s and women¹s sections of the Commonwealth Water Polo Championships here tomorrow.

In the semifinals at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, the Aussie Sharks men¹s team defeated England 11-4, Canada dispatched Malta 13-3 and in the women's section, Olympic champion Australia had a resounding 16-2 victory over South Africa and Canada, the world number three, beat England 10-4.

England, which will play for both bronze medals, should be confident of
success tomorrow.

New Zealand and South Africa men will play for fifth place and Northern Ireland and Singapore will clash for seventh with Wales already returned home with ninth spot.

Australians lead the individual scoring ladders with Nathan Thomas on 16 and Tim Neesham on 15 and Olympic gold medallist Yvette Higgins the best woman with 24 goals.

South Africa - 21 D.DeBruyn (4), D.Woods (3), G.Schultz (3), M Bond (2), S.Daley (2), S.Bond (2), W.Cowden (2), J.Oosthuizen (1), N.Morris (1), R.Bell (1)

Northern Ireland - 2 D Kirk (2)

Referees: Stephen Knights (NZL), Gaetan Turcotte (CAN)

The Republic of South Africa began with Simon Daley netting at 5:13, followed by Jean Oosthuizen at 4:17 from outside. Daley scored again at 3:33 with Shaun Bond scoring off a fumbled ball receipt on a cross pass from Darren DeBruyn to go 4-0 up. Duncan Woods chimed in at 2:25 and Mike Bond fired in from counter on the right hand side at 1:53 to complete the first-quarter scoring at 6-0. Chris Hodgekinson, the goalkeeper of the tournament so far, stopped two excellent South African charges before Nic Morris scored from the top at 4:11. Wayne Cowden took the opportunity of no one guarding him to score at 3:17. Ryan Bell did the same at 2:53, the shot hitting the right and then the left crossbar before popping up into the top of the net to be 9-0 ahead. The Irish, trying to get inspiration from the rendition of Danny Boy at the team presentations, called a time-out at 2:50 but Denver Kirk's shot goes high. Shaun Bond has all the time in the world to move in and score at 1:38 for a 10-0 lead as the Irish slow down. Greg Schultz rounded out the scoring with a last-gasp goal half a second from time on extra and 11-0 going into the second half. DeBruyn scored his outside shot from the right when unmarked at 5:12 to start the third-period scoring. DeBruyn did the same at 4:26. Woods scores a second with a midfield drive at 3:53 and again at 3:06, both with no one at home. Marvyn Kilian, who took over the goalkeeping at halftime, has to make several saves of Irish shots. DeBruyn swims across the face of the goal, turns and receives the pass to shoot from two metres at 0:39 and a 16-0 advantage. Schultz drives middle and a pop pass finds him, he turns and shoots over Hodgekinson's head at 6:43 of the final period. Mike Bond scores at 6:12 on counter as all Irish resistance appears to die. A penalty foul is called against Mike Bond while the Irish were on extra and Denver Kirk, who drew the foul, converts at 5:33 for an 18-1 margin. Cowden converts extra at 3:53 after two quick passes. Schultz rams in his third on counter and with an extra-man situation, which was not needed, at 3:36, bringing up 20 goals for the South Africans. Hodgekinson saves a Schultz shot on counter. Bell is called for a suspect penalty foul on Kirk and he converts at 1:07 and 20-2. DeBruyn nails his fourth immediately after on extra at 0:53. Hodgekinson blocks a shot and it rebounds over halfway to Kirk, sending the team on attack for the last time but no shot comes. This game was unusual in that the first major foul was called in the second quarter and the second not until the first minute of the fourth.

NEW ZEALAND - 12 T.Grace (4), B.Adams (2), R.Tindall (1), J.Venter (1), S.Venter (1), D.Broome (1), F.Bickley (1), R.Claridge (1)

SINGAPORE - 5 A.Lee (2), N.Eng (1), N.Tan (1)

Referees: Chris Freebury (ENG), Ian Melliar (RSA)

Tim Grace in action

Brett Adams opened for the Kiwis at 4:38 from outside, followed by Richard Claridge at 0:41 in a tight period in which Ker Wei Ng kept brilliantly in goal for Singapore. The Kiwis were more composed in the second quarter but it was Alvin Lee who opened for Singapore at 5:17 when two players stayed behind and had an easy two on one with Kiwi goalkeeper Zane McAlpine. Tim Grace scores off a backhand in centre forward at 4:39. David Broome scores on extra at 3:26 on right-hand catch and Fraser Bickley shovelled on in on a counter with just nine seconds remaining for a 5-1 scoreline. Robbie Tindall shoots from the top, hits the crossbar, receives a gift back in the hand and shoots again to score at 5:51 in the third period. Grace scores his second in action, from the left-hand catch position to go 7-1 up. Jaques Venter sent one in on counter at 4:32 and soon after, Singapore Chock Yee Lau gets sent for violence, striking and injuring Kiwi Claridge, who gets ice and treatment poolside. Adams scores again at 3:14 on counter for a 9-1 lead. Alvin Lee gets a lob in at 1:29 in centre forward for a 9-2 differential. Shaun Venter makes it 10-2 at 1:13 on extra. Sai Meng Lee comes under strong defence in the hole position but flicks the ball across to an unmarked Nigel Eng who fires into an empty goal at 0:50 and 10-3 at the break. Nicholas Tan scores at 2:55 of the fourth from six metres in front to narrow the game to 10-4. Eng scores on extra at 1:00, even though new Kiwi goalkeeper Sam Lowery covers with two hands. Grace scores from centre forward after a low pass at 0:35. Grace does it again with 11 seconds left on counter for a 12-5 victory.

AUSTRALIA - 16 K.Gynther (3), J.Flaskas (3), Y.Higgins (3), R.Rippon (2), M.Rippon (2), J.Taylor (1), J.Fox (1), N.Cuffe (1)

SOUTH AFRICA - 2 C.White (1), C.Haralambous (1)

Referees: Andrew Allen (WAL), Thomas Ng (SNG)

Kate Gynther has Australia ahead 1-0 at 5:56. Melissa Rippon makes it 2-0 on extra at 5:25 and Yvette Higgins did the same at 3:05 from off the right-hand post. Jodie Taylor gained her goal on a counter at 2:39 for a 4-0 lead. The South Africans proved a thorn in the Aussies' side with some excellent steals on centre defence but their finishing was not effective. Julia Flaskas wasted no time in scoring, receiving a pass from Rebecca Rippon on the far post at 6:21. It took until 3:03 for Flaskas to score again, scrambling on to a loss ball and swatting at it along with South African goalkeeper Nicki van Houten. The ball squeezed across the line to put Australia 6-0 up. Considering the preliminary match between the two had been a 20-12 romp, South Africa has improved since then. Higgins scores her second at 6:41 but then Cheryl White stunned the Aussies with a quick shot at 6:24 to be 7-1 down. Nikita Cuffe does the damage at 6:06 on counter and then Rebecca Rippon receives a good cross from Jo Fox to score at 5:43 to go 9-1 up. Fox scores one for herself on counter at 4:25. Australia has a time-out at 3:45 after Karen de Beer is ejected on her third major but Fox's shot hits the upright. Flaskas completes her hat-trick on counter down the right at 2:26 for an 11-1 advantage. South Africa leaves Higgins to swim down field and score at 1:34, surprising since Higgins has 23 goals at this tournament, leading the individual scoring by about 13 goals. Rebecca Rippon scores on counter just as the hooter goes. This was smart. She could have passed but there was no time and took the shot herself to perfection for a 13-1 lead going into the last. Christine Haralambous excites the crowd and her team with a long shot from the top left, her shot being tipped into the corner by an Australian defender, eluding goalkeeper Jemma Brownlow at 6:01. Gynther scores on counter from in front at 4:50 for a 14-2 lead. Gynther does it again at 4:10, shooting across the cage. Australia calls a time-out at 1:13. Elise Norwood shoots to the goalkeeper. Australia soon regains the ball and Melissa Rippon counters and scores with eight seconds left and a 16-2 victory.

CANADA - 10 J Begin (3), S.Lizé (2), C.Campbell (2), S.Gardiner (2), M.Collins (1)

ENGLAND - 4 S.Winter (2), A.Norris (1), K.Lewis (1)

Referees: Guy Pinker (RSA), Noel Harrod (AUS)

England survives the first extra play. Susan Gardiner brings up the first goal from centre forward at 3:43 to give Canada a1-0 lead. Melissa Collins scores off left-hand catch at 2:30 for 2-0. English goalkeeper Jennifer Braddock stops two shots in quick succession around the 1:10 mark. However, on a corner throw for the Canadians Gardiner is left unmarked in front of goal and receives the pass to score from two metres at 1:04 for a 3-0 lead. England misses a chance for another goal when one up on extra and Larissa Davies does not get a clean free throw pass to Helen Dacre so she can return. Siobhan Winter scores from 10m at 6:04 to open England's account. Andrea Norris scores an extremely slow lob shot from centre forward, which Canadian goalkeeper Rachel Riddell would normally get if she wasn't lunging forward. the ball dropped short of the line and seemed to take ages in crossing to bring the game to 3-2 at 4:59. Joanne Begin scored on counter at 4:03 before Winter hammered in a second on right-hand catch at 2:24 for 4-3. Begin (1:12) and then Sandra Lizé (0:04) scored on extra to round out the half 6-3 in Canada's favour. Cora Campbell, so imposing in the water with her all-round skills and control, scored off the right wing at 5:30 in the third. Lizé scored another at 4:33, then Begin on extra at 3:31 and Campbell again, this time with a backhand lob from eight metres five seconds from time to give Canada an unassailable 10-3 differential. In the first minute of the fourth period, England wasted a double exclusion chance with the defended person shooting when there were other options. This has been England's failing too often at this tournament. Canada calls a time-out at 4:23 but the shot after some English pressure hits the crossbar. Kate Lewis lifts the crowd when England gains an exclusion against Canada against the run of play and Lisa Knights makes a long cross pass to Lewis, who rises to take the pass and score at 3:26 ‹ 10-4. Canada fails to shoot on one attack and England calls the time-out. Canada calls in Nadine Gilbert to replace Riddell in goal. No more goals come, giving Canada a spot in the final with Australia.

AUSTRALIA - 11 N.Thomas (5), T.Neesham (3), T.Franklin (1), T.Jenkins (1), D. Semmens (1)

ENGLAND 4 G.Martin-Dye (2), N.Bowers (1), C.Burgess (1)

Referees: Peter Balzan (MLT), Stéphane Roy (CAN).

Tim Neesham opened the scoring at 5:40 from top right on a quick pass-and-shoot motion. Adam Richardson gave up a foul just outside seven metres when England was running out of time. Colin Burgess shot and the deflection gave England a corner. Two other corners came but no goals came. Nathan Thomas scored at the other end at 3:35 when he found himself free on counter, receiving the pass from Neesham for a 2-0 score. Burgess got the better of Richardson again, this time with a backhand shot over Rafael Sterk's head at 3:05. Toby Jenkins took Australia to 3-1 with a turn-around shot from centre forward at 2:32. Neesham earned an ejection on Sean Love and in the extra-man play, Thomas scored his second from one on right-hand catch at 1:44. On the counter, Thomas had plenty of time to bounce shoot from four metres with 19 seconds left for a 5-1 lead. Graham Martin-Dye outfoxed the Aussie goalie on extra man at 5:02 to narrow the score to 5-2. Neesham increased the difference to 6-2 at 4:34 and then Trent Franklin made it 7-2 at 3:11, rifling the ball in low from the right down the near post. Ryan Moody earned a controversial penalty foul at 2:14, which Thomas converted for his fourth and an 8-2 advantage. England goalkeeper David Bush and resolute defence slowed down the Aussie Sharks' advance. It took until 5:13 of the third before Australia scored, Neesham making no mistake on his favourite left-hand catch position, coming in close and high out of the water. Bush makes a great save from a Gavin Woods shot just inside the last minute. Australia's next attack saw the set up made and Dean Semmens given the ball in centre forward. He struggled to contain it but leaned forward and back-handed, moving the ball around about 120 degrees under the arm of Bush for a 10-2 three-quarter-time lead. Thomas scored his fifth on extra at 6:26 and then gave up a penalty in unusual and controversial circumstances after the English player took the ball under. Martin-Dye gained the goal at 5:54. Bush stopped a huge shot from Nick Falzon. Neil Bowers scored an excellent driving goal, extending his arm in front of goal for Martin-Dye to place the ball on at 2:05 and an 11-4 margin.

CANADA - 13 M.Sabo (5), T.Bader (2), A.Defett (1), N.Miller (1), M.Gordon (1), D.Lazeravic (1), K.Mitchell(1), T.Marks (1)

MALTA - 3 J.Paris (2), J.Soler (1)

Referees: Scott Schweickle (AUS), Tad Detko (ENG)

This promises much and both sides work hard in the opening minutes. At 4:57, Adam Defett shoots hard from right-hand catch and on the next Canadian attack, Nathaniel Miller drives and scores at 4:29. Ted Bader lobs Malta's Joseph Caruana Dingli at 1:05 and Canada is 3-0 up.
Michael Gordon grabs a goal on counter at 5:53 for a 4-0 lead. Dusan Lazeravic made a centre forward goal look easy at 2:46. However, John Paris made it look just as easy at the other ernd at 2:28 for a 5-1 margin.
Canadian skipper Mikael Sabo edged the score out to 4:37 with a high-catch shot from in front. John Soler pulled one back for Malta at 0:26 after Iain Lark was ejected for a 6-2 score. Kevin Mitchell took it out to 8-2 eight seconds from time.
Bader scored off a slick pass from Defett at 5:56 in the fourth quarter. Sabo lobbed Caruana Dingli at 5;32 and then produced a smart goal by taking the ball in the air and pulling it back into goal without turning at 4:54 and an 11-2 lead. Paris scored a second from centre forward at 4:41 for 11-3. A penalty was called against Niki Lanzon at 2:16 and Sabo scores his fifth from the charity line. Thomas Marks drives down with the ball and scores at 0:54 and Canada has a 13-3 victory.