Water polo: S’pore beat Uzbekistan 11-10 at Asian Championships

SINGAPORE – A day after their shock loss to Thailand, Singapore bounced back with a 11-10 win over Uzbekistan in their final men’s Group A match at the Asian Water Polo Championships.

It was a close match at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on Friday. Uzbekistan held a slender lead in the opening half during which Singapore missed two penalties, but the hosts fought back to earn their first victory of the tournament and finish third in their group.

Singapore coach Kan Aoyagi said: “We lost a very important game yesterday (a 4-2 penalty shoot-out loss against Thailand) and were very disappointed.

“But the players reset and were motivated to win this game. We had a lot of chances but also missed many chances. But in the end, it was good to get the win.”

The team next face Kazakhstan, who have won gold at six of the last seven Asian Games, in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

On playing Kazakhstan, Aoyagi said: “We have hopes of being a top-three water polo team in Asia, so this match against Kazakhstan is a good test. We will put into practice what we have been doing, try our best and give a good account of ourselves.”

Earlier in the day, the national women’s team were handed a narrow 8-6 defeat by reigning SEA Games champions Thailand.

Despite finishing the first round of the round-robin matches winless, national women’s coach Luo Nan said that there are several positives for the team to build on as they begin the second round.

They next face two-time Asiad silver medallists Kazakhstan, to whom they had lost 12-7 in their previous meeting on Wednesday.

Luo said: “We have proven that we are not far off the standards of the other teams. However, our control over the last part of the game still needs improving.”

This week’s event serves as a qualifier for the May 1-7 World Cup, Division 2. Only the top four men’s and top two women’s teams will make the cut.