(ATR) Beach water polo made its debut as a demonstration sport during the first week of the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
France, China, Canada, and Argentina are competing in the men’s event, while the U.S., Australia, Spain and China competed in the women’s field.
On day six of the FINA World Championships, the women’s beach water polo tournament held its finals.
The USA secured the title with a 14-12 win over Spain with Australia following in third place with a 20-16 defeat of China.
FINA Technical Water Polo Committee member Andy Hoepelman says beach water polo will make its place in the championships after the exhibition series was successful with players, referees and spectators.
Hoepelman also added "It should be optimised with a different environment to make it a lot more fun."
"There is a diversity of players, swimming, strong centres and it’s not as physical as normal water polo. The cleverness of the player is most important." says referee Frank Ohme.
The world championships started July 12 and will run until July 28, click here to view the championship schedule.
Homepage photo credit:Istvan Derencsenyi
Written by Greer Wilson.
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