Albury water polo talent Taylor Miller is now a gold medallist after playing an important role in the Australian Country side’s undefeated run at the Princess Chulabhorn Water Polo Cup in Thailand.
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It was the first time the representative team had won gold after taking out a thrilling final Japan, 7-6.
Miller said the tournament was excellent with crowds of more than 2000 people – the biggest he’d ever played in front of.
“It was a different calibre and a lot harder than I'm used to in the local competition,” Miller said.
“It was very professional over there, they had an opening and closing ceremony and it was very well-run.”
Australia Country also faced two teams from Thailand, as well as Hungary, Singapore and Sri Lanka, who were the surprise packets of the event with a third-place finish.
Miller was pleased with his personal form, scoring two to three goals per game, but had to fight the challenging conditions.
“My fitness was better than I thought it was going to be,” he said.
“The water temperature was 37 degrees, so you’d get out of the water and felt like you’d just ran a marathon.”
Following his strong performance, Miller was offered a place on a Newcastle-based squad by Australia Country coach Al Caldwell, which he is still considering.
Miller was struck down by illness at the end of the Thailand trip and is yet to confirm whether or not he will contest the NSW Country Districts Championships in Sydney this weekend.