Women's Water Polo team take on the World
8th June 2010The British Women’s Water Polo team, powered by British Gas, are ready to face some tough competition as they take on the rest of the world for a place in the Super Final of the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League.
The 16-strong squad will travel to Budapest, Hungary, for the first preliminary round which will see them face Russia, Italy, Germany and Hungary in the round-robin competition from 9th to 13th June.
With just over two years to go until the Olympic Games the team will be looking to gain vital international experience against some of the top teams and, having recently competed against Russia and Germany, will be looking to see how their game has progressed.
Joanna Wray, World Class Programmes Manager, believes it will be a good test to see where the team ranks against other Water Polo nations.
“It’s going to be a really high level of competition with all of the top teams going for places,” said Wray.
“It’s a step up from the European qualifiers but we’ve had some good preparation and have been playing against the top teams more regularly which has allowed us to be a lot more competitive.”
“We’re stamping our mark on the world scene slowly and it will be good to see where we place up against the bigger teams.”
The British contingent will then head to Messina, Sicily, for the second leg of the competition from 16th to 20th June.
The top two teams in the group after both preliminary rounds will progress through to the Super Final of the FINA Women’s Water Polo League at the end of June where they will come up against teams such as USA, Australia and China.