SINGAPORE: The Singapore national women’s water polo team will be making their first-ever appearance at the World Aquatics Championship in Doha, Qatar, next year from Feb 2 to 18 as a replacement team for Japan. According to local media reports, the Japan Water Polo Federation decided to pull out of the competition due to budget constraints.
Singapore have been drawn in Group C, alongside Hungary, Australia and New Zealand. The Hungarians have won the tournament twice, in 1994 and 2005. The Australians have also won the gold medal in its inaugural year in 1986 and featured in the finals on two occasions in 2007 and 2013. Both Australia and New Zealand participated in this year’s World Championship held in Fukuoka, Japan. Australia finished in fourth place, narrowly losing 14-16 to Italy in the bronze medal match.
There will be 16 teams in the women’s water polo category at the World Aquatics Championships. They are placed in four teams of four each. All teams have been confirmed except those from Europe, which will only be decided after the European Championship.
Dominic Soh, vice-president of Singapore Water Polo, expressed his pride in the team and their confidence ahead of the World Championships. He also acknowledges the tougher opponents that the Singapore national women’s water polo team would be facing in Doha.
“We are very proud of this achievement, and it has significantly boosted the girls’ confidence. But we know the World Championships will be an even bigger challenge, so we are taking this momentum from the Hangzhou Asian Games to keep pushing ourselves,” said Soh.
The Singapore Water Polo vice president also emphasized the team’s commitment to continuous improvement and their determination to make a difference at the World Championships. He added, “The girls are training very hard and they are all about that continuous improvement mindset. Our coaches are also analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents at the World Championships to fine-tune our game strategies. We are certainly not there to make up the numbers, we are there to make a difference.”
At the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou, Singapore had their best-ever finish as they ended the round-robin competition in fourth position. Hosts China took the gold medal, Japan won silver, and Kazakhstan brought home the bronze medal. Team Singapore lost all their matches to the medallist China (2-26), Japan (6-34), and Kazakhstan (6-12), and won their remaining matches against South Korea (24-1), Thailand (7-6), and Uzbekistan (14-11).
In a move that aims to boost confidence and rejuvenate the team, Singapore Aquatics has announced a leadership renewal in the Singapore national women’s water polo team ahead of the World Championship. Koh Ting Ting (pic above), who led Singapore to a historic fourth-place finish at the Asian Games, will be handing over her captaincy to Abielle Yeo, previously the team’s vice-captain. Nicole Lim and Mounisha will assist Yeo as Singapore’s new vice-captains.
“We’re very excited to be heading to the World Championships. Being able to take on the world’s best is something we all can be proud of. It’s a great feeling to know that all the hard work and dedication we put in during training has paid off. We will be competing against very strong teams but we are determined to push even harder in our preparations and make the most out of this great opportunity,” said Koh, who has also represented Singapore in swimming at the 2009 SEA Games.
Yeo, who took over the captaincy from Koh, feels that being the first Singapore water polo team to feature on the world’s biggest stage is of great significance, saying, “Participating at this level will give us invaluable experience as we learn from the best teams in the world. We hope that participation at the World Championships can serve as an inspiration to future generations of water polo players in Singapore, encouraging more young athletes to pursue the sport.”