The truth in the water: how our water polo players performed at the World Cup

The Russian national water polo team has completed its performance at the World Cup in Malta. In the quarterfinals of the second division, the Russians lost to the French team in a tense struggle (14:13), losing their chances to advance in class and participate in the summer superfinal in Sydney. Nevertheless, the team led by Dejan Stanojevic leaves the tournament with its head held high.

Invaluable experience for the national team

The first leg of the match with France was held in an equal struggle (2:2). However, in the second quarter, the French managed to make a serious groundwork, winning it with a score of 6:3. After a long break, the Russians tried to turn the tide of the meeting, but the third period also passed in an equal struggle (2:2).

The final quarter turned out to be the most dramatic. Our water polo players showed their mettle by winning it 6-4, with the last goal scored less than a minute before the end of the match. Unfortunately, our water polo players did not have time to even the score, and the French began to openly delay time. The result is 13:14.

The most productive players in the national team were Daniil Merkulov and Arslan Zakirov, who scored three goals each. Rafael Vergara scored six goals for the Brazilians. The goalkeeper of the Russian team, Pyotr Fedotov, was recognized as the best player of the match.

— The French national team managed to use its strengths. We have been preparing for this, discussing and practicing with the coaching staff," Roman Shepelev, captain of the national team, told the press service of the United Aquatics Federation. — They have several top international players in their team. Offensively, we were able to play as a team and score a lot of goals. But we lost individually in defense. We were in the role of catching up, conceding too many individual goals.

Now the team will carefully analyze everything with the coaching staff in order to try to correct mistakes.

— We are by no means giving up, we are determined to fight and progress. I want to say a huge thank you to all our fans for your support and faith. Yes, we lost to a strong opponent, but we gained a lot of valuable experience. We will continue to work," he promised.

Thus, the Russian national team scored four victories with one defeat. Earlier, Brazil (10:7), Great Britain (21:9) and South Africa (31:11) were beaten in the group stage, and in the 1/8 finals the Russians beat the Brazilians again (16:10).

On Sunday, April 12, our water polo players played a classification match, losing to Romania (16:12). Now the team will play Ukraine for the seventh place.

They swim, we know: what to expect from the Russian national team at the Water Polo World Cup

The team, led by the award-winning Serbian specialist, will try to return to the first division.

Pioneers at international launches

This tournament has become somewhat historic for Russian water polo players. For the first time in four years, our athletes participated in competitions under the auspices of World Aquatics, albeit in a neutral status. Since 2022, Russian national teams in team sports have been banned from international competitions on the recommendations of the IOC, but representatives of water polo have become pioneers among adults.

Due to their long absence, the Russians did not start in the elite, but in the second division of the World Cup, where 24 national teams participated. Our main goal was to reach the finals, which would guarantee a ticket to the superfinal, which will be held from July 22 to 26 in Sydney. Unfortunately, the task turned out to be unfulfilled. But here it is worth noting that the French team was among the top 3 main favorites of the second division along with Australia and Montenegro.

Despite the relegation, the return of the Russian team to the international stage can be considered a success: four wins in five matches and reaching the playoffs after a four-year hiatus is a worthy result.

Especially considering that over the past few years, water polo has adopted rules that have noticeably accelerated the game. The court was reduced from 30 to 25 m, and possession of the ball was reduced from 30 to 28 seconds. According to the new rules, our national team played against other countries for the first time.