Courtesy: FINA
After a ten-month break due to the Coronavrirus pandemic that has highly impacted the world of sport, FINA is delighted to announce the return to competition.
The Men’s Water Polo World League 2020 resumes on Friday as the European teams will play a three-day tournament in Debrecen (HUN) from January 8-10, 2021.
In order to conclude the European rounds for the 2020 edition of the World League, which took place over three Game Days (12 Nov 2019, 17 Dec 2019, 11 Feb 2020), the men’s teams are left with a single tournament in Hungary in order for them to secure a berth to the Super Final to be held from June 26 – July 2, 2021.
The competition’s schedule in Debrecen unfolds as follows:
Day 1 – Friday 8 January
- GAME 1 SRB v ESP
- GAME 2 CRO v MNE
- GAME 3 FRA v GRE
- GAME 4 ITA v HUN
Day 2 – Saturday 9 January
- GAME 5 LG1 v LG3
- GAME 6 SRB v LG4
- GAME 7 WG1 v WG3
- GAME 8 ESP v WG4
Day 3 Sunday 10 January
- GAME 9 LG5 v LG6
- GAME 10 WG5 v WG6
- GAME 11 LG7 v LG8
- GAME 12 WG7 v WG8
The eight teams selected for the Magyar tournament correspond to the first two teams in each of the groups that had played so far the European preliminaries. The 2020 rankings before the competition was suspended were as follows:
GROUP A: 1. Italy, 6 pts (2W); 2. Greece, 3 pts (1W, 1L); 3. Georgia, 0 pts (2L)
GROUP B: 1. France, 4 pts (1W, 1L); 2. Hungary, 3 pts (1W, 1L); 3. Russia, 2 pts (1W, 1L)
GROUP C: 1. Serbia, 6 pts (2W); 2. Croatia, 3 pts (1W, 1L); 3. Netherlands, 0 pts (2L)
GROUP D: 1. Montenegro, 6 pts (2W); 2. Spain, 3 pts (1W, 1L); 3. Ukraine, 0 pts (2L)
At the end of the week in Debrecen, four teams will qualify for the event’s Super Final and will face the best non-European teams of the InterContinental Cup which will be played in Indianapolis (USA) from April 26- May 2, 2021.
Daily news reports and photos about the tournament in Debrecen will be available on FINA website and on FINA social media throughout the weekend.
The Women’s European preliminaries will resume on February 2 for the Game Day #5 in various European cities.
The last FINA competition (all disciplines combined) was held on March 6-8, 2020 when the first leg of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series was staged in Paris (FRA).