In the shadow of the tournaments of the World Cup Division 1 in Zagreb and Podgorica, the qualifications in Men’s Division 2 begin.
The European qualification tournament will be held in Otopeni (Romania).
Romania, Germany, Malta, Ukraine, and Great Britain will participate in a round-robin tournament, which will be played between March 9 and 12. Six teams originally entered the tournament, but Ireland withdrew.
In October, World Aquatics announced the competition formula of Division 2. The top two teams from each of the four continental tournaments (Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia + Oceania) will advance to the Intercontinental tournament.
Still, there have been some changes in the formula. Three European teams will play at the Intercontinental tournament in Berlin (May 1 – 7).
Germany is, as the host, already qualified. If the Germans win 1st or 2nd place in the European qualifications, then the 3rd-placed team from Otopeni will also go to Berlin.
Germany is the only of the five teams in the European qualifications that won a medal in the former World League, which was replaced by the World Cup. The Germans finished 3rd in 2005.World Aquatics still hasn’t announced how many teams entered Division 2 of the World Cup.
The 1st-placed and 2nd-placed teams at the Berlin tournament will take visas for the Final in Los Angeles (June 30 – July 2).
By the way, Otopeni is Bucharest’s suburb. The World U20 Championships will be held in the pools in Otopeni and Bucharest in June.
Division 1 begins today. Follow the live scores of the matches in Division 1 on Total Waterpolo Arena
