FINA made the draw for the London 2012 Olympic Water Polo Tournaments at the weekend (Saturday 5 May) during the Visa Water Polo International, which took place in the London 2012 Water Polo Arena, confirming the group stages for the men’s and women’s events.
In the men’s event, hosts Great Britain have been drawn in Group B and will take on Olympic champions Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Beijing 2008 silver medallists USA and bronze medallists Serbia. The four highest ranked teams in each group will qualify for the quarter-final round.
In the women’s competition, Great Britain will face Italy, Russia and Australia in Group B.
Australia, who won bronze in the 2008 competition in Beijing, were crowned winners of the Visa Water Polo International tournament at the Water Polo Arena this weekend, part of the final group of London Prepares series test events.
This summer, the men’s tournament will feature 12 teams while the women’s will feature eight. The competition takes place at the Water Polo Arena in the Olympic Park from 29 July – 12 August.
London 2012 Organising Committee Director of Sport Debbie Jevans said: ‘This week we’ve tested our brand new water polo arena with thousands of fans cheering on some of the world’s best players. We will now be fine tuning our preparations and working closely with FINA to get ready to stage spectacular matches this summer.’
All places in the women’s competition were confirmed in the World Olympic Games Qualification Tournament in Italy in April, while the men’s participants were finalised in the same tournament in Canada earlier in the month.
Men’s Competition:
Group A
Greece
Italy
Kazakhstan
Spain
Australia
Croatia
Group B
Hungary
Montenegro
Romania
Great Britain
USA
Serbia
Women’s Competition:
Group A
Hungary
Spain
China
USA
Group B
Italy
Great Britain
Russia
Australia
