Men’s water polo eye medal to end 12-year drought
KUALA LUMPUR: The national men’s water polo squad which is going to be fielded as an underdog team at the 29th SEA Games is confident of springing a surprise to win at least a bronze medal to end its 12-year medal drought.
Team captain Khoo Tiong Jin said the Philippines and Thailand were the main focus of the national team which was lined with young players to realise this dream at the National Aquatic Centre starting Aug 15-20.
“Our preparation for the SEA Games this time is better and more complete compared to the previous editions after training since last year, including two weeks of training in China last month. We are confident of garnering the bronze or silver medal if we are able to create a shock over Indonesia.
“Indeed, Singapore is the strongest team but we still don’t know yet how strong Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines are,” said the 26-year-old mechanical engineering student when met by reporters after a visit by Chef-demission Datuk Marina Chin to the team’s training session yesterday.
In the event, which is traditionally dominated by Singapore - the 26 times consecutive champions - each team has 13 players, whereby a goalkeeper and six players will perform in the pool to put the ball into the opposition’s goal.
With only five teams taking part in the event, every team will play four league matches to decide the winner based on the number of points obtained. — Bernama