Hangzhou 2022: Water Polo teams make waves in China

By Patrick Johnston

For a number of Singapore’s men’s water polo team, this Asian Games was to be their swan song. Standing in their way of a glorious send off was a South Korean side, who had beaten them in the classification stages of the last two Asian Games.

With their match for fifth place locked at 7-7 in the fourth quarter at the Huanglong Sports Centre on Saturday (Oct 7), Singapore captain Lee Kai Yang used a time out to huddle the team together to demand one last push.

“I told the team, there were no other games left in this competition. And for some of the players, it is their last competition so I told them to give it their all, (leave) nothing left,” he said.

The team responded to the rallying call. 

Three quick-fire goals broke out a close-fought playoff and Singapore secured an emotional 10-8 victory, placing them overall fifth and one position higher than their sixth place finish in the 2018 Jakarta games.

Cheers broke out, coaches were pushed in the water in celebration and Lee struggled to hold back the tears as he explained what the result meant.

“To be able to win by two this year, it really is a sweet victory, especially for the few of us that have been through a long ten year journey,” he said. “And to see the team finally click and I honestly think we played our best game today of this tournament. 

“To a lot of people it is just fifth, but for us we really ought to put the team and the sport in Singapore in a better position than when we first joined and I hope we did that.”

Singapore goalkeeper Lee Kai Yang dives to make a save in the Asian Games men's water polo fifth place playoff against South Korea. (Photo: Sport Singapore/Bryan Foo)

Lee, 28, said they were “breaking into a different tier” where the professional sides like China and Japan reign supreme.

With the next Asian Games only three years away, the goalkeeper said the squad would need to go back and evaluate what was next but anticipated that it would be a tournament too far for some.

“I’m not sure, we need to go back, speak to our families, our employers, we need to figure out our lives and see who can still commit,” he said.

“I literally see these guys more than I see my family. So it means a lot, we have been through a lot, training through injuries, playing through injuries.

“The exciting thing is that we have a really good bunch of juniors who are hardworking and committed and are gutted they couldn't be in this team.”

Singapore's Lee Cheng-Kang prepares to launch the ball at goal as a South Korean defender attempts to block him during the Asian Games men's water polo fifth place playoff against South Korea. (Photo: Sport Singapore/Bryan Foo)

Singapore were handed a tough draw in the eight-team competition in Hangzhou, pooled with the finalists from the last Asian Games, Kazakhstan and Japan.

They sandwiched defeats against the two giants with an 11-8 victory over Hong Kong that helped put them into a quarter-final against Iran, another traditional regional powerhouse. 

The men did brilliantly to keep the contest as close as 7-5 in the third quarter but the Iranians proved just too strong,  running out 13-6 winners.

"We were closely matched for the first two or three quarters. Iran were bronze medallists at the last Asian Games and we entered this game as underdogs but we did our best,” said Yip Yang, one of Singapore’s scorers.

"We (implemented) the strategy we wanted and the referee calls were also in our favour, so it was a good chance for us to win but at the end of the day the better team did win.”

The men brushed themselves down to dispatch Thailand 9-6 in their first classification match which set up the showdown with Korea.

Singapore's men's water polo team pose for a photo after beating South Korea to secure fifth place at the Asian Games. (Photo: Sport Singapore/Bryan Foo)

The women also recorded a famous victory over Thailand earlier in the week to finish the tournament in a fantastic fourth place, a marked improvement on their displays at the Asian Water Polo Championship earlier this year.

“This is the women's team’s best performance at the Asian Games, achieving fourth place and beating our long-time rivals Thailand, Uzbekistan and South Korea,” said captain Koh Ting Ting.

The 19th Asian Games are held in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October 2023. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.