COVENTRY’S teenage water polo sensation Amelie Perkins made a big splash against the best team on the planet to cap off a dream week.
The 16-year-old has been playing for the Great Britain women’s senior team in the European Championships in Eindhoven for the past week, helping the side reach the quarter-final stage.
Amelie, only recently back in the water after recovering from a ruptured tendon in her thumb, scored two against reigning world champions The Netherlands on Tuesday.
Great Britain lost their quarter-final clash 25-6, but still has an opportunity to qualify for the upcoming world championships as they now go into the 5th-8th place playoff matches.
Amelie’s dad Troy said she was ‘over the moon’ to be able to play against her idols and added he was immensely proud of how she has performed on a world stage.
He added: “Eight months ago me and Amelie watched the ladies’ water polo World Cup featuring the best countries in the world including The Netherlands- for her play against her heroes such a short time later in front of 4,000 Dutch fans was incredible.”
This week’s tournament is the first time Great Britain has qualified for the European Championships in a decade.
Earlier in the tournament, Amelie helped her team to a historic penalty shootout win against Israel to book their place in the last eight.
Now, having defied expectations, Earlsdon ace Amelie said she wants to help the team inspire the next generation of aspiring water polo players.
She added: “We never thought we would get this far, we now want to give future players something to aim towards and inspire them.
“I have enjoyed training and playing with some world-class players, it has been a great experience so far and I’m enjoying learning from the more experienced players and coaches.”
