December 15, 2020 – The Croatia water polo team will jump back into the European World League Qualifiers in Hungary next month before heading to Rotterdam for the highly anticipated Olympic qualifiers for Tokyo 2020.
Debrecen, a city in far eastern Hungary, will host the European World League Qualifying Tournament from January 8 to 10, 2021. It is a World League competition from the 2019/20 season, which was interrupted in March this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eight national teams will travel to Debrecen, including Croatia, based on the previous order in the groups that have more or less come to an end.
The ‘Barracudas’ will play against the national team of Montenegro on the first day of the tournament, the quarterfinal day, at 4:45 p.m.
The quarterfinal match between Serbia – Spain in Debrecen will still be played. However, the result in that match is completely irrelevant because these two teams have already met in the group. Spain won 13:11 and thus qualified for the semifinals.
Quarterfinal pairs, January 8, 2021:
(15.00) Serbia – Spain
(16.45) CROATIA – Montenegro
(18.30) Italy – Hungary
(20.15) France – Greece
Semi-final pairs, January 9, 2021:
(18.30) winner Croatia / Montenegro – winner Italy / Hungary
(20.15) Spain – winner France / Greece
The three best national teams from Debrecen will qualify for the final tournament of the World League.
Croatia will also compete in the 2020 Men’s Water Polo Olympic Qualification tournament next year. Originally scheduled to take place in March, the COVID-19 pandemic had other plans, and the tournament was then postponed from May 31 to June 7, 2020, and finally from February 21 to 28, 2021.
The Olympic qualifiers will be held in Rotterdam, and only the top three teams will advance to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Croatia will play in Group B with the Netherlands, France, Russia, Germany, and Romania.
Croatia water polo will gather for the first time on December 27 this year in Zagreb, and coach Ivica Tucak will announce the candidates next week.
Source: HVS
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