THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The Indian water polo team had recently participated in the Water Polo Challengers Cup, an international tournament organised by Federation Internationale de natation (FINA) in which they had secured seventh place. According to Vinod P S, the team coach, it has almost been 10 years since a senior national team had represented the country in an international tournament. In the tournament, the players had to battle countries such as Austria, Singapore, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong.
The performance levels also improved with each game they played. “We lost to Hong Kong by a two-goal difference,’’ he said. The tournament promotes the game in countries where the sport is less advanced. Aneesh Babu, Shibinlal S S, Rahul Kadukkattil, Jithu S P, Praveen G K and Sibin Varghese were the eight athletes from the state who represented the national team in the tournament held in Singapore. They came from the Services and railway teams.
The tournament had also provided the players a chance to observe the quality of the opposition they faced. Goalkeeper Aneesh Babu said: “Their game and fitness levels are different as they have better facilities.”
Rahul, a player from Thrissur, believed that the game was more difficult to play within the country than in the international arena. “Penalty situations occur more in the international tournaments and more fouls are called out by the referees,” said Rahul.
The players also spoke about the lack of popularity and support for the sport within the country.
“Even though we are national-level players, we don’t get the same recognition and facilities as the players from the Indian cricket team. Finding sponsors is also difficult as our team is not well known,” said Aneesh.
The lesser number of national tournaments taking place every year was another issue highlighted by the players.However, the team’s coach is hopeful that the situation will change if the team can play more international matches. “We are expecting more international championships to happen in future. Also, FINA will be inviting us for the next tournament,” said Vinod.