Dubai: Fina Water Polo World League defending champions Serbia will have to overcome the might of current World Champions and nine-time Olympic gold medallists Hungary if they are to top the podium again at the Hamdan Sports Complex from June 16 to 21.
Serbia currently have a stranglehold on the World League title, having won seven gold medals since 2002, twice as Serbia and Montenegro and five times as an independent nation. But Hungary have dominated water polo in all other major international competitions, with three World Championship titles and nine Olympic gold medals, including three straight top prizes from 2000 to 2008.
The Hungarians fell to a disappointing fifth-place finish at the 2012 Olympics. But the appointment of former Hungarian international Tibor Benedek as coach in January 2013 saw the team bounce back and take gold at the 2013 World Championships with a nail-biting 8-7 win over Montenegro.
Coach Benedek brings a wealth of experience to his role at the helm, having won World and European championships and three Olympic gold medals in his playing career.
Benedek was also named Hungarian Water Polo Player of the Year three times and the team includes some of his former teammates including veteran player Norbert Madaras and Denis Varga, who was named Most Valuable Player at the 2013 World Championships.
The Championship winning line-up are now heading to Dubai to add a well overdue third World League title to their long list of achievements. Hungary have won the title twice before, in 2003 and 2004, and have finished second three times, including last year.
Hungary topped their European preliminary group ahead of Greece and Croatia to qualify to the last eight and will now play Australia, Canada and the USA in group B of the Super Final.
Final group standings will decide the seedings for the quarter-finals, where the top team from Group A will play the bottom team of Group B and vice-versa.
The World League is the global annual competition for water polo and one of the most prestigious and sought-after titles in the sport after the Olympic Games and World Championships. The World League began in 2002 and is the water polo equivalent to the Swimming World Cup and Diving World Series, which have both been hosted in Dubai since 2011. The Super Final winner will take home the $100,000 (Dh367,800) winner’s cheque along with the title of World League winner for 2014.
The competition runs from June 16-21, with matches each day at 2.30, 3.50, 5.10 and 6.30 pm. Further information about the event and the match schedule can be found on Facebook — Fina Water Polo World League – Dubai.
