Courtesy: FINA
Trieste, in Italy, is set to stage the first Aquatics Qualifying event for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The FINA Women’s Water Polo Olympic Games Qualification Tournament will take place over a six-day tournament in the North Italian city from January 19-24 during which eight international teams will vie for the remaining two Olympic spots.
The groups’ composition for the tournament is as follows:
GROUP A: A1 Netherlands, A2 France, A3 Italy, A4 Slovakia
GROUP B: B1 Greece, B2 Hungary, B3 Israel, B4 Kazakhstan
The two teams from the above groups qualifying for the Olympic Games will join the eight squads which have already secured their spot for Tokyo: USA, Spain, Canada, Australia, Russia, South Africa, China and Japan.
The schedule in Trieste unfolds as follows:
DAY 1 – January 19
GAME #1 – 14:00 HUN v ISR
GAME #3 – 16:00 GRE v KAZ
GAME #2 – 18:00 FRA v ITA
GAME #4 – 20:00 NED v SVK
DAY 2 – January 20
GAME #6 – 14:00 HUN v KAZ
GAME #8 – 16:00 GRE v ISR
GAME #5 – 18:00 NED v ITA
GAME #7 – 20:00 FRA v SVK
DAY 3 – January 21
GAME #9 – 14:00 HUN v GRE
GAME #10 – 16:00 FRA v NED
GAME #12 – 18:00 ITA v SVK
GAME #11 – 20:00 ISR v KAZ
DAY 4 – January 22
GAME #13 – 14:00 2A v 3B
GAME #14 – 16:00 3A v 2B
GAME #15 – 18:00 1A v 4B
GAME #16 – 20:00 4A v 1B
DAY 5 – January 23
GAME #17 – 14:00 LG13 v LG16
GAME #18 – 16:00 LG14 v LG15
GAME #19 – 18:00 WG13 v WG16
GAME #20 – 20:00 WG14 v WG15
DAY 6 – January 24
GAME #21 – 14:00 LG17 v LG18
GAME #22 – 16:00 WG17 v WG18
GAME #23 – 18:00 LG19 v LG20
GAME #24 – 20:00 WG19 v WG20
The postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic meant that the qualification process was extended until June 29, 2021. Therefore this event of upmost importance has also a special meaning, after an unprecedented year. It embodies the return of Sport and represents hope for all the athletes preparing for the Games.
The tournament in Trieste will be held under strict sanitary measures, implemented and monitored by FINA, so that the health and safety of all participants can be ensured.
All matches will be broadcast live on FINAtv and will also be available on replay, while the live scores will be displayed here. Daily news reports will be published on FINA website and photos / videos can be found on FINA social media channels.
The FINA Men’s Water Polo Olympic Games Qualification Tournament will take place in Rotterdam (NED) from February 14-21, 2021.