BHUBANESHWAR: Six decades ago, Indians were Asian Gold medalists in the water polo event. To revamp the lost glory, the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) has joined hands with Serbia Waterpolo Federation (SWF) for an holistic approach towards long-term development of the sport in the country.
Ahead of 2022 Asian Games, with the support from SWF, two of the top Serbian coaches Andric Nimanja and Babovic Miodrag have joined the National camp for men’s water polo probables commenced in January 2022 and will continue work with them till the end of February at Kalinga Stadium here in Bhubaneswar.
“Serbia teams are highly professional and ranked top in the world,” said Serbian coach Andric Nimanja, adding “here the level is very low, we are focusing on the basics of water polo sports in this camp. It’s more like a grass-roots training. The biggest positive aspect is that these young swimmers are very much enthusiastic and trying to learn the new form of the sport quickly.”
With the sport evolving over the last thirty years, the European athletes have become professionals. Andric felt that for the development of any sports, few basic components like infrastructures, coaches, regular matches and a huge base of players of different age groups are essential. “SFI must have created a temperature maintained swimming pool for water polo sports. The facilities here at Kalinga Stadium are very good,” he added.
While a high level training program for the Indian players in Serbia is in process, the Indian Government and the Sports Authority of India are working on the paperwork. “We will finalise 20 strong players from this national camp to join the overseas exposure tour before the Asian Games 2022,” Andric confirmed.
After the bronze in 1982, Indian men’s team haven’t stood on the podium in Asian Games. Thanking SFI for the initiative to revive water polo, Indian water polo men’s team coach Saibal Shaw said that the swimmers from Indian Railways, Services, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other parts of the country are a part of the national camp now.
“The Odisha Government has provided all support including the international infrastructure which is a great help to organise the camp here,” he said.