(February 11, 2020 – Montréal, QC) – The Canadian Men’s National Team is ready to start the final stage of its preparation for the 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament (OQT) to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands from March 22-29, 2020. The last three of the twelve spots for the Olympics will be up for grabs in Rotterdam.
The official OQT draw was completed earlier today in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Canadian Men will compete in Group A, alongside Georgia, Asia 1 (TBD), Brazil, Montenegro and Greece.
“The draw certainly puts us in an interesting situation, with a lot of great teams in Group A. With Greece and Montenegro as the favourites in our group, we will have to fight with Georgia, Brazil, and Asia 1 for the two spots available for the playoff round,” commented Pino Porzio, Men’s National Team Head Coach.
The Senior Men’s National started the New Year with a clear objective of qualifying in mind. The Canadian men travelled to Barcelona, Spain at the end of January, to train with local Spaniard clubs and common training with the Chinese National Team. Since then, the centralized players have made their way back to the National Training Centre in Montreal to pursue their preparation while the other Canadians joined their professional clubs for a few weeks of competition.
The Canadian Men will be back together on March 10 for a training camp with the Dutch National Team in Zeist, Netherlands. Fourteen players have been named to the travelling roster for this camp. In Holland, the coaching staff will aim to narrow down the roster to 13 players for the Olympic Qualification Tournament.
The men’s qualification tournament will consist of five days of round-robin play during which Canada, in group A, will match up with Georgia, Asia 1, Brazil, Montenegro and Greece. From the group round, the top four teams in group A and B will enter the elimination crossover round with the winner of these four quarterfinal games moving on to the semifinals, with the hopes of earning one of the three spots available. Nine nations have already qualified for Tokyo 2020, meaning Canada will need to finish on the podium to punch its ticket for the 2020 Olympic Games.
“It will be a long and difficult tournament for everyone. The stakes are very high; Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece have a lot of experience, and the matchups will be balanced until the very end. The key will be to take one game at a time with the focus on being physically and psychologically ready for the quarter-finals. The Pan American Games experience has taught us that we need to play until the very end. After our last common training in Spain, I feel that we are ready to play our cards, knowing that it will be hard to win our Olympic pass,” added Pino Porzio.
Canadian Athletes travelling for the 2020 Olympic Qualifier
- Nicolas Constantin-Bicari – Repentigny, QC
- Jérémie Blanchard – Longueuil, QC
- Jérémie Côté – Montréal, QC
- Bogdan Djerkovic – Ottawa, ON
- Reuel D’Souza – Port Coquitlam, BC
- Aleksa Gardijan – Gatineau, QC
- Matthew Halajian – Maple Ridge, BC
- Gaelan Patterson – North Vancouver, BC
- Milan Radenovic – Toronto, ON
- Samuel Reiher – Longueuil, QC
- Max Schapowal – Beaconsfield, QC
- Aria Soleimanipak – Calgary, AB
- Mark Spooner – Port Coquitlam, BC
- George Torakis – Montreal, QC
Men’s National Team Staff
- Head Coach: Giuseppe “Pino” Porzio
- Assistant Coach: Brian Parillo
- Assistant Coach/Video Analyst: Francesco Rizzo
- Team Leader: Neil Muir
- Physiotherapist: John Roberts
The 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament schedule will be confirmed following the Asian Qualification tournament. The local organizing committee has yet to release live streaming information; all streaming details will be published on Water Polo Canada’s platforms when it becomes available.
Schedule – To be confirmed
March 22 – Canada vs Brazil – 14:50 (local)
March 23 – Montenegro vs Canada – 19:00 (local)
March 24 – Canada vs Georgia – 16:10 (local)
March 25 – Asia 1 (TBD) vs Canada – 19:00 (local)
March 26 – Canada vs Greece – 14:50 (local)
March 27 – Quarter-finals
March 28 – Semifinals
March 29 – Finals
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Media Contact
Mylène
Turcotte-Fitzgerald
Communications & Marketing Manager, Water Polo Canada
Tel: 613.748.5692 x 325 I C : 819.639.6414 I mfitzgerald@waterpolo.ca