News / Sports

Iran water polo team suffers defeat from China in Olympic qualifier

Saturday, 19 December 2015 12:19 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 19 December 2015 12:37 PM ]

The national Iranian men’s water polo team (file photo)

The national Iranian men’s water polo team has conceded its second defeat at the 2015 Asian Qualification Tournament for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

On Friday, the Iranian squad, which had sunk Saudi Arabia 18-9 in its second match of the sports event the previous day, lost to the hosts 6-19 at the multi-purpose Century Lotus Stadium in the city of Foshan, China.

The Iranian water polo players will have a bye on December 19, before taking on Kazakh athletes in their last Rio Olympic qualifier the next day.

The 2015 Asian Qualification Tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics started in Foshan on December 16 and will finish on December 20. The winner of the tournament qualifies for the 2016 event.

On May 29, Iran’s national water polo team won the 5th edition of the FINA World Men’s Water Polo Development Trophy after overpowering their strong rivals Uruguay 13-5 in the final.

The tumultuous applause from spectators at the packed Shahid Shiroudi Stadium in the Iranian capital city of Tehran helped Iran claim the first quarter 2-0.

The Persians maintained their dominance and scored another three goals in the second quarter to make it 5-0.

The two sides then settled for a 3-3 draw in the third frame. However, Iranian sportsmen regained the lead in the last quarter and outscored the Latin American powerhouse 5-2 to seal their deserved 13-5 victory.

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