Singapore international tournament and training camp

The teams are :

Men : Australia, Croatia, Italy, Germany, Montenegro
Women : China, Italy, Russia, Greece

Singapore - This August, Singaporeans can for the first time ever catch world-class water polo action. They will witness athletic, awesome and thrilling displays of tactical genius, strength and skill from the greatest global talent in water polo.

Nine Beijing Olympic Games-bound water polo teams from eight countries will converge here to contest in a five-day tournament. Tickets for this sporting spectacle go on sale from today.

Titled “The Road to Beijing – Pre-Olympics Water Polo Invitational”, the event will simulate the competitive environment, under climatic conditions expected at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. It is expected to garner substantial spectator interest not just locally but also around the region.

The event is co-organised by Singapore Water Polo (SWP), a division of the Singapore Swimming Association, and Australian Water Polo Inc. (AWPI), both of which are national governing bodies for the sport.

The visiting men’s teams include reigning world champions Croatia and former Olympic Gold Medalists Italy and Montenegro, while the women’s teams include Russia and China. The Chinese team has chosen to prepare for the Beijing Games by competing against top level opposition in Singapore, in a round robin format.

To be held at the Singapore Sports School from 31 July to 4 August 2008, the event kickstarts SWP’s strategic vision for water polo in Singapore and the region. In the pipeline are various programmes, activities and events to enhance the awareness and interest of water polo in Singapore, and develop talent for sustained sporting glory. Water polo is arguably Singapore’s most successful sport, with the Singapore men’s water polo team having been crowned champions for an unprecedented 22 editions of the SEA Games.

Mr Ivan Tan, Vice President of Water Polo, Singapore Swimming Association, said: “We are proud to play host to such a high calibre world-class sporting event. This is a great boost towards our aim of making Singapore the water polo hub of Asia. It heralds the launch of our strategic vision to generate widespread interest in the sport, and exponentially develop talent to take us into the next wave of glory.”