POLO DRAW CONFIRMED FOR EURO CHALLENGE
Great Britain will face Celtic rivals Ireland in the group
stages of the men's LEN European Nations Trophy, the largest
water polo competition hosted in Britain in recent years.
Olympic cycling gold medallist and former water polo player
Jason Queally conducted the draw this afternoon at the Manchester
Aquatics Centre - host to the eight-day competition which
takes place from 8-15 July.
Great Britain were drawn in Group B alongside water polo
heavyweights France, Poland, Ukraine and Israel, but have
managed to avoid polo supremos Montenegro in the group stages.
Great Britain Men's Coach Eelco Uri believes competition
will be tough but hopes his players will be boosted by the
domestic support.
"Any draw was going to be tough because there are a
lot of strong teams entered into the championships,"
he said. "But it's good news we won't face Montenegro
early on because they're a very strong squad and are the tournament
favourites.
"We've got a real chance of progressing to the knockout
stages and a the home crowd will provide a big boost for the
team."
In the women's competition, which takes place in Prague from
17 June, Britain were drawn in Group B against France Slovakia
and Turkey. Group A comprises Czech Republic, Ukraine, Bulgaria,
Portugal and Switzerland.
Officials Manfred Vater and Marco Birri from LEN, the European
federation for swimming, were in attendance to oversee the
draw.
The draw for the men's LEN European Nations Trophy
is as follows:
Group A
Belarus
Turkey
Malta
Belgium
Montenegro
Macedonia
Group B
France
Great Britain
Poland
Ukraine
Israel
Ireland
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