Top women’s water polo teams prevail, Day 1 of World C’ships sees low attendance

SINGAPORE – Day one of the World Aquatics Championships may have kicked off with a swathe of empty seats in the 3,000-seater OCBC Aquatic Centre, but it was still business as usual for the big guns as the women’s water polo tournament got under way on July 11.

Olympic silver medallists and world No. 6 Australia recorded the biggest win of the day with an opening 34-2 win over the 22nd-ranked Singapore. In the other Group A game, Italy came from behind to down New Zealand 14-9.

Despite the defeat, the hosts felt they had improved from their 32-1 loss to the same opponents in their championship debut in Doha a year ago.

Singapore goalkeeper Rochelle Ong said: “There are definitely still more things to work on in defence and attack, but we have grown as a team in terms of chemistry, strategies, gameplay and bonding since we last played Australia.

“We are excited for our upcoming games against New Zealand (July 13) and Italy (July 15) and we aim to continue to improve.”

Earlier in the day, Olympic champions and world No. 1 Spain kicked things off with a 23-4 drubbing of South Africa in Group D, while 11th-ranked Britain came from behind to beat France (10th) 12-9.

In Group B, world No. 2 the Netherlands thumped Argentina 25-6, while China were level at 4-4 with defending champions and world No. 3 United States, who eventually pulled away with a 15-7 win.

Japan gave Asia something to cheer about with a 25-12 victory over Croatia in Group C, while Hungary edged out Greece 10-9 in a rematch of their 2024 semi-final, which the Hungarians won in a shoot-out after a 9-9 draw.

Recent rule changes have made the game faster as the maximum first and second ball possession times have been reduced for both men and women.

Ong said: “Gameplay is definitely a lot faster now, and we have to be more mobile in moving the ball, and be more careful of the time. It forces us to play a more dynamic game, to move the ball quicker and try to find a free man to score.”

While the changes appear to suit the faster and stronger teams, South Africa skipper Shakira January felt they also provide the impetus for weaker teams to improve.

She said: “The professionals swim so much faster, so it’s better for them and more challenging for us because we take a little bit longer to get up the pool. But we have to do our best with our coach to be fitter and faster so we can become more competitive.”

As the action heats up in the pool, the players – many of whom are here for the first time – have only praise for the hosts’ sporting facilities, accommodation, food, hospitality and cityscape.

Noting that the people she has met here are “so nice and welcoming”, January said: “The competition venue is nice and big, and the pool is triple the size of what we see in South Africa. We don’t have facilities like this at home, so it’s so nice to come and play here.”

Spain centre-forward Paula Leiton struggled with the 32 deg C heat and 80 per cent humidity, but liked how the pool’s water temperature was cool and regulated, while China’s Zhang Qishuo enjoyed the food options at her team hotel.

There have been some teething issues for the first-time hosts.

Netherlands captain Sabrina van der Sloot noted that the team bus arrangement had them arriving too early – they were at the OCBC Aquatic Centre more than two hours before their 10.35am start time – as they usually arrive 90 minutes ahead of their match.

While she liked how it “feels like a special competition pool”, she also noted that the lane line fasteners on the drain covers may cause players to trip, pointing out that players have broken their toes at other venues. During the Greece-Hungary match, there were also a number of lengthy video assistant referee review delays.

Local players also hope to see more fans turn out to watch them play.

While some of the July 11-Aug 3 championship events, such as the high diving finals and some swimming and diving finals are already sold out, the first-day attendance for water polo was in the low hundreds and mostly comprised the athletes’ friends, international fans and Team Nila volunteers.

The Straits Times understands that sales for tickets – priced between $10 and $140 – for the water polo, open water swimming and artistic swimming events have been slower.

Ong said: “My family, friends and colleagues are here to watch, and that’s good enough for me because they don’t usually get to watch me play in person.

“But I do agree that more people can come and watch women in sports, or just top-level aquatic sports in general. Hopefully, over the weekends, there will be more Singaporeans bringing their families down to come and watch us play.”