Water polo: After clinching Asian C’ships gold, China confident of challenging Japan for Asiad title

SINGAPORE – It has been 17 years since China last won the men’s water polo competition at the Asian Games, but Chinese captain Chen Zhongxian believes they have what it takes to reign supreme again at the Hangzhou Asiad from Sept 23-Oct 8.

After clinching the Asian Water Polo Championships with an 11-8 win over Iran in the gold-medal match on Monday, Chen expressed belief that his team can challenge Japan, who had beaten China to win the 2022 Asian championships but were not in Singapore to defend their crown.

“For the Asian Games, we want to beat Japan, win the title and earn our spot in the Paris Olympics. We just have to keep working hard in order to do that,” said the 26-year-old, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the final after scoring a hat-trick.

The Japanese, who were silver medallists at the last two Asiads, are among the favourites for the gold this time.

Kazakhstan, the three-time defending Asian Games champions, seemed to be a side in transition, as seen from their third-placed finish at the Asian championships.

They had beaten Thailand 18-7 in the bronze-medal match after losing 10-1 to China in the semi-finals.

The Chinese did not have it easy in the final, however, as they found themselves trailing 3-0 to Iran early in the second quarter. But Chu Chenghao soon opened their accounts with a goal and China clawed their way back to level proceedings at 4-4 going into the interval at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.

Xie Zekai’s goal in the third quarter saw China take the lead which they never relinquished as they went on to seal their crown.

China coach Petar Porobic was pleased with the grit his charges displayed, but added that it would be a tall order to defeat Japan, even with home-ground advantage at the Asiad.

The Montenegrin said: “It can be very difficult competition because at this moment, Japan are a good team and it could be difficult to beat them, they have a great advantage. Of course, we can try (to challenge them).”

Chen believes they will be able to sharpen their edge through upcoming competitions. Besides the May 1-7 Men’s Water Polo World Cup, Division 2 in Berlin, they are also heading to July’s World Aquatics Championships in Japan.

Meanwhile, Singapore came in fifth after a 12-11 victory over Uzbekistan in the placing play-offs. They had also pipped the Uzbeks 11-10 during last week’s round-robin stage.

While they finished behind Thailand after losing to them on penalties last Thursday, Singapore coach Kan Aoyagi is confident of his team’s preparation ahead of the May 5-17 SEA Games in Cambodia, where they are looking to reclaim the gold medal.

The Japanese said: “All the issues we faced in this tournament were made by us like rushing, or being nervous, losing concentration and control, that’s why we made mistakes so it’s not that the other teams and opponents are strong.

“We are strong and good, but we are happy we have these six games and one by one, each game we did well and now we have the confidence.”

In the women’s competition, Kazakhstan prevailed in the four-team event. The two-time Asiad silver medallists had already secured their title on Sunday after building an unassailable lead over runners-up Thailand.

Uzbekistan were third, while Singapore came in fourth.

“We tried to play well here and day by day, we got better and better,” said Kazakhstan captain Viktoriya Kaplun, who added that they are aiming for a medal at the Asian Games.

“We felt very good to be playing in Singapore.”