The FINA Men’s Water Polo Intercontinental Tournament is underway in Corona del Mar, California (USA) for the 2015 edition of the World League taking place from March 30 – April 4 2015.
Eight non-European nations (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, USA) from three continents have started to battle for a place in the World League Men’s Super Final which will take place in Bergamo (ITA) on June 23-28.
The first day in Corona del Mar began with the unpredictable duel between Australia and Brazil (the 2016 Olympic hosts ultimately lost 10-13) and ended when a young U.S. team barely fell to Canada 10-9. In between, Kazakhstan topped China 10-9, and Japan overtook Argentina 14-9.
On Day 2, Canada blew out Argentina, 15-6, to remain undefeated. Australia also beat Kazakhstan, 13-7, to maintain its perfect winning record in the competition.
On the other side of the Atlantic, in the European preliminaries, world champions Spain stun Netherlands (11-8) in the penultimate round on March 25 in Madrid and Greece crushed Germany 21-5 in Athens. In more recent action, on March 31, host France lost to Montenegro (8-14) whilst Italy beat Turkey 17-6.
The four best teams of the Intercontinental Tournament will join the best European teams in Bergamo for the eight-squad Super Final of the 2015 World League.