Water polo planning to resume in July
Although this season’s European club competitions have been cancelled, domestic water polo in Greece is set to start up again in July, while the Olympic qualification tournaments have now been moved to January 2021.
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The news that the European club competitions will not be continued at all comes as a great disappointment to Greek water polo fans. On the men’s side, Olympiacos were comfortably on their way to another Final-8 appearance in the Champions League, where the Erythrolefki had won the title two years ago and been runner-up last season. On the women’s side, Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni were playing against each other in the quarterfinals of the EuroLeague. Olympiacos had won the first leg 10-8 away, and were looking to win the competition for the second time in their history, having finished runner-up last year. Originally, LEN (Europe’s governing body for aquatics sports) had announced that this year’s water polo club competitions would be continued and completed in September and October, but that is no longer the case.
On a more positive note, club competitions within Greece are hoping to begin again in July. This includes the A1 Water Polo Leagues for men and women, and the Greek Cup for women. The Greek Cup in men’s water polo had already been completed just before all sports were called off due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Olympiacos winning their 21st Greek Cup in men’s water polo.
Additionally, with the Olympics being postponed until next year, the Olympic qualifying tournaments have also been rescheduled. The women’s event will now be held January 17-24 in Trieste, Italy, and the men’s event will be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, sometime in January (specific dates TBA). The Greek men’s and women’s national water polo teams will be present at those events, looking to earn their qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.
It has also been revealed that the 2021 World Aquatics Championships have now been moved to 2022, to be held from May 13-19 in Fukuoka, Japan. The World Championships for water polo are included in that event, and both Greek national teams will also be participating there.
