The teams of Australia, Brazil, China (as hosts), Japan and USA are the non-Europeans teams qualified for the Super Final of the 2016 edition of the FINA Men’s Water Polo World League, to take place in Huizhou (CHN) on June 21-26. This selection was the outcome of the Intercontinental Tournament of the competition, held from May 10-15 in Yokohama (JPN), with the participation of six national squads – besides the five qualified teams, Kazakhstan also took part in the six-day event.
The team of USA was the winner of the Tournament, beating Australia in the final by a narrow 10-9, while Brazil got the bronze medal by beating Japan also by a tangential 13-12. In the match deciding places 5-6, Kazakhstan was clearly better than China, triumphing by 16-7.
In the preliminary phase of the competition in Yokohama, the US team was also the best, with a perfect winning record of five matches. Australia came second with four wins and one loss, while Brazil won three matches and was defeated on two occasions. Japan was also fourth in the preliminaries, with only two successes out of its five games. Kazakhstan (four losses, one victory) was slightly better than China (five defeats), but the host of the Super Final got an automatic qualification.
Final ranking of the Intercontinental Tournament: 1. USA; 2. Australia; 3. Brazil; 4. Japan; 5. Kazakhstan; 6. China
In previous European action – six rounds of games were played on a home and away basis from October 2015 to May 10, 2016 -, three teams were also qualified for the decisive stage of the competition. The leaders of the Old Continent’s groups earning their ticket to Huizhou were Greece, Italy and Serbia.
The Super Final of the 2016 FINA Men’s Water Polo World League will be contested by the following eight teams: Australia, Brazil, China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Serbia and USA.
Swimming news courtesy of FINA.