Dubai: Both Uzbekistan’s men’s and women’s teams will be in action in the opening matches of the water polo competition at the 9th Asian Swimming Championships, which will take place at the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Sports Complex here from November 15.
The draw was held at the Hamdan Complex here on Thursday in the presence of Championship Director Abdullah Shahdad; Taha Al Kishry, Director-General of the Asia Swimming Federation (AASF); Georgios Polychronopolous, Water Polo Championships Director, and Ayman Sa’ad, Executive Director of the UAE Swimming Association.
The men’s event will begin with Uzbekistan against Saudi Arabia and the women’s competition will see the central Asian nation take on Singapore.
“The men’s competition has nine teams participating, with the rankings based on the results of the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China, while the seven participating nations in the women’s competition will play a round-robin to decide the winner,” Shahdad said.
Strong contingents
Al Kishry added: “We have a fantastic field for these championships, led by strong contingents from China and Kazakhstan, while the other nations will be out to prove they are capable of competing at the highest level.”
This is the third major international event being held at the state-of-the-art Hamdan Complex in just over a month after the Fina Arena Swimming World Cup and the first International Water Polo and Synchronised Swimming Championships.
The 9th Asian Swimming Championships will kick off with the swimming and synchronised swimming competitions from November 15 to 18, followed by the water polo competition from November 19 and the diving on the last four days from November 22 to 25.
