Alphen to come back in international waterpolo
Men’s Junior waterpolo will be in the focus of attention on the Pentecost weekend when the qualification tournaments for the U19 European Championships are held in four different cities. One of the events will be held 24-27 May in Alphen on the Rhine, Netherlands. The city in the province of South Holland is the home town of former Dutch champion AZC Alphen which clinched 15 national titles between 1977 and 2004 and will now see the first international tournament in a new pool. Here the junior squads from Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Switzerland and the Netherlands will battle for two European Championships berths.
The matches of the upcoming qualifiers will be held at the new AquaRijn swimming complex. The venue is designed for the needs of national and international waterpolo and is to open a new era in the local waterpolo community. In their glorious days, the local heroes of AZC Alphen qualified for the final games of the 1983-1984 European Champions Cup against Pro Recco, but had to play their home matches at the city of Veenendaal.
The new complex is replacing the former De Thermen pool which had been destroyed by a fire in 2005 and is to be opened in May. The home town of the former national champion is one of the keystones of the Dutch men’s junior programme, and a junior event will now be first event in the new pool. The complex will also provide another venue to the small collection of big pools in the Dutch national league.
The first event to be held in the home town of the former national series champion is to give Dutch junior waterpolo a precious advantage on the international stage. Results of the Dutch junior teams were declining since the fourth place of the players borne in 1989 at European Junior Championships. Last year the 1994 squad even missed the qualification for the U17 Championships in Rijeka, Croatia.
Men’s U19 European Championships 2012
Qualification Tournament at Alphen on the Rhine, Netherlands
Thursday, 24 May 2012
18:00 Germany vs. Great Britain
20:00 Netherlands vs. Switzerland
Friday, 25 May 2012
18:00 Germany vs. Poland
20:00 Netherlands vs. Great Britain
Saturday, 26 Mai 2012
09:30 Poland vs. Great Britain
11:30 Germany vs. Switzerland
18:00 Poland vs. Switzerland
20:00 Netherlands vs. Germany
Sunday, 27 Mai 2012
09:30 Great Britain vs. Switzerland
11:30 Netherlands vs. Poland
The top two qualify for the 2012 U19 European Champions to be held at Canet-en-Roussillon, France.
Bron: WaterpoloWorld
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