The destination might be unusual for water polo but very much loved by the tourists and has all the connections with sport: Funchal on the island of Madeira is a well-known city as the birthplace of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Though this time the ball will be in the pool as the season’s last age-group event, the women’s European U19 Water Polo Championships kick off there on Sunday.
The event returns to Portugal after 16 years, in 2002 Loule hosted the meet, that time Greece won the crown – they medalled in the last two editions too (won in 2014, got bronze two years ago) and can get some push from the boys who clinched both the U18 world and U19 European crowns this summer. In the women’s U18 Worlds Spain came first in Belgrade a week ago after beating Italy and the Greeks earned bronze.
In an age-group event nothing can be taken granted, so the distinction title-holder means less as obviously no player (or just a couple of) remain on board from the previous side – still, it’s worth noting that last time the Netherlands triumphed in the Hague. That was the Dutch 4th win in the history of tournament and caught up with the Russians who also earned four titles since the first edition in 1994.
LEN offers free live stream from all matches and the usual live-scoring site is also available for water polo lovers – just visit www.len.eu
Women’s European U19 Water Polo Championships
Group A
Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Czech Republic
Group B
Hungary, Great Britain, Slovenia, Israel
Group C
Netherlands, Germany, France, Portugal
Group D
Greece, Russia, Romania, Turkey
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with LEN Media. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.