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The Russian national team won an amazing victory at the World Championships in the era of total discrimination by the IOC. Our water polo players achieved participation in a prestigious tournament without humiliating demands and endured everyone!
How is this possible?
The World Aquatics Championships took place in February in Qatar. Traditionally, within the framework of the tournament, competitions were organized in the Masters category among water polo players over 30 years of age. And the Russians managed to get there — under the auspices of World Aquatics! first time admitted. The federation, World Aquatics, didn’t really want to see us. But this year, as I understand it, the Qataris hit the table with their fist and said: “The Russians will go,” said team member Pavel Ageev.
He is the grandson of the legendary Soviet water polo player Viktor Ivanovich Ageev, a three-time Olympic medalist and participant in the sensational match in Melbourne 1956. That meeting, which ended in a wall-to-wall fight, was at one time dubbed “blood in the pool.”
“Everyone was afraid, but we weren’t.”
For the tournament in Qatar, the Russian team gathered the best players from the country's second strongest division.
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“In terms of organization, this is more like a club world championship,” said Ageev. “You go to the country’s federation. You are declared as a club, you receive a license. Our team is called Capitals, “capital residents.” Then the federation uploads it to the world register. It turns out that the club you represent the country.”
To participate in the tournament, I had to fill out a form and sign up to certain rules. Important: Russians were not forced to condemn the SVO.
“We told about ourselves and indicated all social networks. They studied the posts. During the competition they asked not to publish anything in support of the SVO. Before and after — it’s possible. Plus they checked that you did not play for CSKA and Dynamo,” Ageev noted.
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“There were Belarusians too, but they declared for Lebanon, they went under their flag,” noted the Russian water polo player. “Our older generation—some played for Italy, others for Moldova, others for Kazakhstan. They were afraid that they would be deployed, but we ended up the bravest ones. They answered us for a long time, but in the end they said “yes”. In fact, they showed up on the last day.»
Of course, the Russians had to come to terms with a neutral status. The team name sounded like «NIA 35+». Uniforms associated with Russia, the USSR or the Russian Empire were banned. But here Russian ingenuity and cunning worked.
“Everyone clearly identified and knew that we represented Russia. In addition, we cheated, combined the maps of Moscow and St. Petersburg and applied them to the form,” admitted Ageev.
And this is what they looked like game swimming trunks of the Russian team:
In Qatar, clashes outside the pool and political scandals were avoided. According to Ageev, the Russians have nothing to complain about — neither the refereeing nor the organizers.
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“There were no problems at all,” Ageev emphasized. “As for the opponents, they played, for example, with the Hungarians, our historical “enemies”. Everyone was glad that we came. They were interested in playing with us. It was already boring without us, they were waiting for us to return. Before that, everyone was unwound with the left heel. We took pictures together, communicated well. And these were world stars.»
Recently, the President of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics (VFKhG) Irina Viner stated that, according to the plans of the Olympic organizers, “a team of homeless people without a flag, an anthem and fans” should go to Paris. Some Russian water polo players, as it turns out, disagree with her. And even at their own expense they are ready to return the country to world sports.
< “On the contrary, I felt that I was promoting the country,” Ageev noted. “I am doing everything to return to international arena. And I move everything with my own money. And the fee for the team is $560, and the fee for the player is $90, all by ourselves. About 150 thousand rubles in total per person for everything." br>
The next such tournament in the capital’s plans is the European Championship in Serbia in June. The Russians' application is under consideration. We hope that the Serbs will follow the example of the Qataris and will also be able to “hit the table” properly. You can’t let the Hungarians get bored again.