The draw for the water polo tournament at the World Championships in Doha (February 2 – 18) will take place tomorrow, World Aquatics announced this evening.
The list of the participating teams hasn’t been completed yet because six more teams (three men’s and three women’s) will qualify from Europe. European Aquatics hasn’t announced if the qualifications or the European Championships would be held before the Worlds.
But, World Aquatics sorted the teams into the pots for the draw according to a similar system as in the previous championships. The semi-finalists of the last big competitions (of the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka, in this case) are in the first pot of the draw. The remaining teams are sorted according to their results at the qualification tournaments – World Championships in Doha, World Cup, and continental tournaments.
For the first time, the female team of the USA won’t be in the first pot of the draw because it failed to reach the semifinals in Fukuoka.
The home country, Qatar, won’t have water polo teams at the tournament. Because of that, all medal winners at the Asian Games qualified for the Doha Championships. Japan, China, and Kazakhstan won medals in both water polo tournaments at the Asian Games. But, since the female team of Japan, the runner-up at the Asian Games, withdrew, Singapore (4th place at the Asian Games) filled the vacancy.
The pots for the draw for the men’s tournament
LINE 1: Hungary, Greece, Spain, Serbia
LINE 2: Italy, France, USA, Europe 1
LINE 3: Brazil, Australia, Europe 2, Europe 3
LINE 4: Japan, China, Kazakhstan, South Africa
*Spain and Italy qualified for Doha from the 2023 World Cup.
*Hungary, Greece, Serbia and France qualified for Doha from the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka
*The remaining teams represent their continents
The pots for the draw for the female tournament
LINE 1: Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Australia
LINE 2: USA, Hungary, Canada, Europe 1
LINE 3: Brazil, New Zealand, Europe 2, Europe 3.
LINE 4: China, Kazakhstan, Singapore, South Africa
*USA and Netherlands qualified for Doha from the World Cup
*Spain, Italy, Australia and Hungary qualified for Doha from the World Championships in Fukuoka.
*The remaining teams represent their continents.
More articles about the World Championships
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