Barcelona 2013: Draws for Water Polo Tournaments

Barcelona (ESP), February 24, 2013 – POLO AIR INDONESIA - Concluding the visit of the FINA Bureau to Barcelona (ESP), the draws for the men’s and women’s water polo tournaments of the 15th FINA World Championships taking place in the Catalan capital from July 19-August 4, 2013 were held today in the studios of TVE (the Host Broadcaster of the competition) in Sant Cugat and were broadcasted live.

Conducted by Gianni Lonzi, Chairman of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee, the results of the draw were as follows:

MEN’S TOURNAMENT

Group A: 1. Montenegro; 2. Spain; 3. Greece; 4. New Zealand
Group B: 1. Croatia; 2. Canada; 3. United States; 4. South Africa
Group C: 1. Serbia; 2. Hungary; 3. Australia; 4. China
Group D: 1. Italy; 2. Germany; 3. Romania; 4. Kazakhstan


WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

Group A: 1. Spain; 2. Russia; 3. Netherlands; 4. Uzbekistan
Group B: 1. Australia; 2. China; 3. New Zealand; 4. South Africa
Group C: 1. United States; 2. Canada; 3. Greece; 4. Great Britain
Group D: 1. Hungary; 2. Italy; 3. Brazil; 4. Kazakhstan

Djoko Pekik Bantah Hapus Dana Bantuan PB/PP

POLO AIR INDONESIA: Deputi Bidang Prestasi dan Iptek Olahraga Kemenpora, Djoko Pekik Irianto membantah pihaknya menghapus bantuan terhadap pengurus induk organisasi (PB/PP). "Tidak benar disebut kemenpora menghapus bantuan terhadap PB/PP. Yang benar, kita mengurangi bantuan saja," kata Djoko Pekik dalam acara dialog Solusi Dana Peningkatan Prestasi Olahraga yang digelar RRI di Gedung RRI Jakarta, kemarin.

Menurut Djoko Pekik, pengurangan bantuan terhadap PB/PP karena untuk membiayai Program Indonesia Emas (Prima) dalam rangka mempersiapkan kontingan Indonesia menghadapi beberapa event penting di antaranya Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG), Asian Martial Arts, Asian Beach Games dan SEA Games Myanmar 2013. "Dana yang dibutuhkan untuk menghadapi event tersebut cukup besar yakni Rp400 miliar. Tetapi, kemenpora hanya bisa menyiapkan Rp250 miliar. Itupun dengan adanya pengurangan bantuan kepada PP/PB," jelasnya.

Akibat adanya pengurangan bantuan kemenpora itu, kata Djoko Pekik, muncul keluhan dari PB/PP. Makanya, Kemenpora mencoba mencari jalan keluar melalui Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Penambahan (APBNP) yang akan dibahas dalam rapat dengan Komisi X DPR-RI dalam waktu dekat. "Mudah-mudahan usulan APBNP disetujui sehingga tidak adanya pengurangan bantuan terhadap PB/PP," ungkapnya.

Diskusi ini juga menghadirkan Ketua Umum PB PABBSI, Adang Dorojatun, Kabid Pembinaan Prestasi Petenis Junior PB Pelti Aga Soemarno, Kabid PC)mbinaan Polo Air PB PRSI, Andreas Legawa, dan Azhari Nasution (Suara Karya).

Secara khusus, Adang meminta Kemenpora tidak mengurangi bantuan terhadap PP/PB. Pasalnya, bantuan tersebut sangat dibutuhkan apalagi untuk pelaksanaan kejuaraan.

"Kalau bisa bantuan yang selama ini diberikan jangan dikurangi tetapi ditambah bagi cabang-cabang olahraga yang meraih prestasi di Olimpiade," ujarnya.

Ketika disinggung solusinya, Adang meminta pemerintah agar mengimbau Badan Usaha Milik Negara (BUMN) sebagai bapak angkat untuk menjalankan komitmennya. "Kami sudah merasakan besarnya peran PT KAI yang menjadi bapak angkat dalam melakukan pembinaan maupun penghargaan bagi atlet berprestasi. Makanya, peran bapak angkat jangan sampai berhenti apalagi PB PABBSI punya sasaran meningkatkan prestasi pada Olimpiade Rio Jenairo 2016," tambahnya.

Lebih jauh Djoko Pekik mengungkapkan Indonesia tetap menargetkan mempertahankan gelar juara umum SEA Games Myanmar 2013. "Target kita mempertahankan gelar juara umum dengan prediksi 150 medali emas," jelasnya.

Secara terpisah, Kepala Seksi Pemberitaan Olahraga RRI, Muhajar mengatakan, rencananya program diskusi ini akan digelar secara rutin. Tujuannya, RRI ingin berperan dalam memberikan masukan untuk meningkatkan prestasi olahraga Indonesia ke depan. (Suara Karya). 

Women's World League: first win for the Netherlands and Spain in round 3

Lausanne (SUI), POLO AIR INDONESIA-February 6, 2013 – The Dutch and Spanish squads secured their first victory in the third round of the European tournament of the 2013 FINA Women’s Water Polo World League, taking place today. Hungary and Italy still lead their respective group – A and B – with 6 and 5 points each.

In Group A, 2012 Olympic silver-medallist Spain beat 2011 World champion Greece in a thrilling game in Athens, winning 12-7. In Group B, the visiting Dutch team – and 2008 Olympic champion – fired in Kirishi, defeating 2011 World bronze-medallist Russia 6-4.

The next rounds of the women’s European tournament will be held on February 8th and 9th (round 4), March 13th (round 5) and March 16th (last round).

The Asia/Oceania tournament will kick off on May 9th in Auckland (NZL), followed by the Americas tournament on May 24th in the USA (city to be confirmed).

The women’s World League Super Final will be organised in Beijing (CHN) from June 3-8, 2013.

Women’s provisional rankings:
GROUP A: 1. HUN, 6 pts (2 wins); 2. ESP, 3 (1W, 1 loss); 3. GRE, 0 (2L)
GROUP B: 1. ITA, 5 pts (2W); 2. NED, 3 (1W, 1L); 3. RUS, 1 (2L)

Next round:
Group A: HUN-ESP in Budapest (February 8, 2013)
Group B: ITA-NED in Avezzano (February 9, 2013)

Serbia in the Super Final; Hungary and Montenegro with four wins

Lausanne (SUI), POLO AIR INDONESIA-February 2, 2013 – Montenegro, Serbia and Hungary confirmed their superiority in the respective groups of the European preliminaries of the FINA Men’s Water Polo World League 2013, held in various cities of the Old Continent on February 1-2.

In Group A, Montenegro got its fourth consecutive win by beating at home (in Kotor) the Croatian squad by 6-5. With this triumph, the Montenegrins almost assured their presence in the Super Final, while Croatia (2012 Olympic champions) will not play the decisive tournament of the competition. Greece, with its comfortable triumph (15-4) in Istanbul against Turkey, can theoretically finish first of the group in case of victories against the two Balkan teams.

In Novi Sad, playing for Group B, Serbia assured the presence in the Super Final of the competition by easily defeating Germany by 13-4.

In Group C, Olympic silver medallist and 2011 World champion Italy could not make it in Volgograd, losing after the penalty shootout 12-10 to Russia (at the end of the regular time, the two teams were tied at 8-8). In the lead of the group, Hungary triumphed over Romania in Debrecen by the minimal difference of one goal – 9-8. The Magyars also totalled their fourth win in four games played so far.

While the six-round European tournament will conclude in the end of March, the Asia/Oceania tournament kicks off May 9th in Auckland (NZL) and the Americas tournament is scheduled to start on May 24 in the United States (city to be announced).

The Men’s Super Final will take place from June 11-16, 2013 (city to be announced). 

Provisional rankings:
GROUP A: 1. MNE, 12 pts (4 wins); 2. CRO, 6 (2W, 2 losses); 3. GRE, 6 (2W, 2L); 4. TUR, 0 (4L)
GROUP B: 1. SRB, 9 pts (3W); 2. ESP, 2 (1W, 1L); 3. GER, 1 (3L)
GROUP C: 1. HUN, 12 pts (4W); 2. ITA, 7 (2W, 2L); 3. RUS, 3 (1W, 3L); 4. ROU, 2 (1W, 3L)

Next round (5) on March 27, 2013:
Group A: GRE-MNE and CRO-TUR
Group B: ESP-SRB
Group C: ROU-RUS and ITA-HUN

Montenegro, Serbia and Hungary still lead after round 3 in Europe

Lausanne (SUI), POLO AIR INDONESIA-January 30, 2013 – Montenegro, Serbia and Hungary maintain the lead of their respective group – A, B and C – after the third round of the European tournament of the 2013 FINA Men’s Water Polo World League, held from January 29-30 in various European cities.

In Group A, reigning Olympic and World League champion Croatia beat Greece in Athens 9-7 on January 30. The same day, Montenegro defeated Turkey in a grueling 14-4 in Istanbul.

In Stuttgart, the only game for Group B, 2012 World League second-place finisher Spain faced pressure from Germany, collecting their first win with a score of 13-12 after penalty shootouts. The Serbian team, which is also in this group, will have their next game in round 4 against Germany.

In Group C, Olympic silver medallist and 2011 World champion Italy crushed Romania 11-5 in Civitavecchia on January 29. A day later in Volograd, Hungary played a solid game against Russia, defeating the locals 10-7. 

The six-round European tournament will continue running in February and March. The Asia/Oceania tournament kicks off May 9th in Auckland (NZL) and the Americas tournament is scheduled to start on May 24 in the United States (city to be announced).

The Men’s Super Final will take place from June 11-16, 2013 (city to be announced). 

Provisional rankings:
GROUP A: 1. MNE, 9 pts (3 wins); 2. CRO, 6 (2W, 1 loss); 3. GRE, 3 (1W, 2L); 4. TUR, 0 (3L)
GROUP B: 1. SRB, 6 pts (2W); 2. ESP, 2 (1W, 1L); 3. GER, 1 (2L)
GROUP C: 1. HUN, 9 pts (3W); 2. ITA, 6 (2W, 1L); 3. ROU, 2 (1W, 2L); 4. RUS, 1 (3L)

Next round (4) on February 2, 2013:
Group A: TUR-GRE in Istanbul and MNE-CRO in Kotor
Group B: SRB-GER in Novi Sad
Group C: ITA-RUS in Volograd and on February 1, HUN-ROU in Debrecen