Singapore water polo teams relishing opportunity to play world’s best at home world c’ships

SINGAPORE – The Singapore water polo teams’ mission will be to “learn and inspire” as they look forward to facing the world powers in the game at the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships in home waters.

Singapore men’s captain Lee Kai Yang said: “Everyone starts at 0-0, so we will still go into every match with the intention to win, no matter how slim that probability is.”

“We relish the challenge to play against these high-level teams. Win or lose, there will be lessons to take away from these matches,” the sports business consultant with Deloitte told The Straits Times at the launch of the first community roadshow for the world meet at ION Orchard on May 9.

“Having played at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, I know the atmosphere will be incomparable to playing elsewhere as there will be family, friends and other Singaporeans cheering for us.

“It’s not just about us, we also hope a kid in the stands seeing water polo for the first time can get inspired to play and hopefully one day don national colours.”

The men’s team, who will make their world championship debut, are drawn into Group C alongside 2024 Olympic bronze medallists United States, as well as Brazil and Canada.

Meanwhile, the Singapore women’s team, who made their world meet bow at Doha 2024, will meet Paris silver medallists Australia, Italy and New Zealand in Group A.

In preparation for the formidable challenges, the Singaporeans have ramped up their training intensity – they train six days a week, with the men’s team increasing the number of sessions from eight to 14, while the women’s team have upped theirs from eight to 11.

They also played in the Feb 25-March 2 Asian Water Polo Championships in which the men’s team finished sixth and the women’s team finished fourth.

During their training sessions, the men had been trying out new tactics and working on their chemistry and synergy, said player Dominic Chan, a third-year National University of Singapore biomedical engineering undergraduate.

“We will continue to work on improving our game in upcoming training camps in Japan, Australia and China.”

For the women’s players, they are eager to test their mettle against teams with different styles during their training trips to Portugal, Greece and Serbia.

Captain Abielle Yeo, who is training full-time, added: “We were well-challenged in our debut (at the world championships in 2024), so this time we are bringing with us the experience we have about the physicality and speed of the game that we witnessed in Doha.”

With no other South-east Asian teams involved in the world championships, Singapore are hoping the experience of playing against the world’s best will give them a leg up during the Dec 7-19 SEA Games. The men’s team are aiming to retain the gold while the women’s side will hope to leapfrog hosts and defending champions Thailand.

Yeo said: “We will definitely be using this as one of our milestone checks and as a stepping stone to improve our game leading into the SEA Games in December.”

During the roadshow, the public will be able to experience what it is like to stand on a 27-metre diving platform via virtual reality, and test their speed and reflexes at the water polo reaction wall.

Eight other malls will host similar roadshows to offer opportunities to experience the aquatic sports.

Additionally, eight new partners – ION Orchard, CapitaLand, Singapore Airlines, Fullerton Health, Jewel Changi Airport, Kin Productions, Sistic and Westpoint Transit – were also announced as sponsors, taking the total value of deals for the event to more than $16 million.

Mark Chay, co-chair of the organising committee, said: “These roadshows bring the excitement and experience of the World Aquatics Championships directly to the community through interactive stations that allow us to try out some variation of the sports featured at the championships.

“It is also a good chance for us to familiarise ourselves with these sports before we watch the world’s best aquatics athletes execute their craft in Singapore.

“We are also grateful for the tremendous support from our new partners. Hosting an event as prestigious as the World Aquatics Championships is an endeavour that requires cooperation from all areas of the community and we are heartened to have received so much support from the various stakeholders.”

• David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

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