Australian water polo star reveals scratch wounds after Stingers defeat China at world champs

Australian water polo star Tilly Kearns has revealed the extent of the scratch wounds she sustained against China as the Stingers progress to the round of 16 at the World Championships.

Tilly Kearns took to social media to display her scars from a brutal match.

The Aussie Stingers have sailed through the group stage of the water polo World Championships – but they didn’t all come through unscathed.

The women recorded wins against France (10-8) and the People’s Republic of China (11-7) and a loss against USA (9-5) to progress through to the Round of 16.

Water Polo Olympian, Tilly Kearns Picture: Justin Lloyd.

But Olympian Tilly Kearns took to social media to reveal the physical nature of the clash with China.

Her video, shared to Instagram, shows scratches all over chest, shoulders and neck.

In the short clip she says “I love playing China, I absolutely love it, my favourite team to play”. She posted the clip along with the caption “no nail check”.

Kearns posted in the comments that a nail check is normally carried out before the match but it wasn’t done prior to this clash.

Water polo is a physical sport – with a lot of the action happening under the water away from the eyes of spectators and umpires.

The Stingers will play Israel at 3pm (AEST) today in the Round of 16 clash.

The Australian men’s team have also progressed to the Round of 16 – taking on France on July 23 (AEST).

Originally published as Australian water polo star reveals scratch wounds after Stingers defeat China at world champs