NEW STYLE POLO CHAMPS KICK OFF ON SATURDAY
The ASA Water Polo Championships will take place this weekend
(Saturday June 30th to Sunday July 1st) at Manchester Aquatics
Centre.
The re-formatted competition has attracted interest from
clubs that had not previously entered, and the standard of
matches has, generally, been very high during the qualifiers.
In the women's competition, the semi-finals will be played
between Manchester, Liverpool, (London-based) Penguin and
Sheffield. These clubs are always well represented at the
National Women's Water Polo League competitions and so most
of the current GB squad, just back from their Prague success,
will be competing for their clubs.
The Junior Ladies from Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield
will be playing 3 matches in the diving area pitch, during
Saturday afternoon, to determine the finalists on the Sunday
morning.
Youth Ladies teams are drawn from Worthing, Liverpool and
two Manchester squads - expect the 5.30pm match to be really
exciting!
For the Men, there is an added interest caused by the decision
to rest as many of the GB squad members as possible, ahead
of the LEN tournament the following week. Club managers have
therefore included several players who are sometimes regarded
as subs - which will hopefully show the real strength and
depth that the Cheltenham, Lancaster and Rotherham squads
have produced. It will also lead to some very enthusiastic
supporting from their teammates.
Junior men's competitions are a North/South mix with Sutton
& Cheam, Leeds, last year's victors the Kent/Sussex-based
Invicta and Manchester having won through to their semi finals,
to be held on Saturday evening.
Youth men have Manchester & Lancaster squads pitted against
each other played early afternoon on the Saturday, with the
other semi-final between Bristol and Invicta immediately following.
This will be a chance for the male GB Youth managers to watch
their players away from the training sessions, ahead of the
match in Bulgaria.
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