The third round of the WP Tour Series international competitions for the Ukrainian U-19 national team was an important stage in the preparation for the European Championship qualifiers. As a reminder, the Ukrainians finished fourth out of six teams.

“It was the only tournament before the European Championship qualifiers where the national team could play together. The previous training camp in Kosice was a training camp. From the matches I can say that the team was still unplayed, gradually from game to game we found connections, understanding of each other, and improved our game.

In general, I am satisfied with the tournament, I saw the guys and their shortcomings. As for me, we played more or less well: we beat Polonia Bytom and the Czech team. We lost to strong opponents: “Novaki are more experienced than us, and we had a good game with Zhaibas. The tasks for the match were set and the guys tried to fulfill them, a good fight ensued, but our guys are a little weaker.

We will still have a training camp in Kosice before the qualifiers, where we can catch up on the problematic issues. There will be practicing elements of defense and offense, plus a drawing of the excess. We just haven’t had enough time to catch up on all the gaps we have, but we will try. We still have six training sessions ahead of us, I think we will be able to win something during them,” said Yuriy Sydorovych, head coach of the Ukraine U-19 national team.

“It is very good that the coaching staff of WC Dynamo Lviv met us halfway and gave the Ukrainian U-19 team the opportunity to play in the third round of the WP Tour Series. For the young guys, it was a kind of test and good practice in the pool. Five good matches, in each of which our players added to the quality of their play. This was especially noticeable in the last match against the group leader, Zhaibas, where the Ukrainians showed character and played very well.

On the eve of qualifying for the European Junior Championship, the team received game practice, and the coaching staff saw what aspects of tactics still needed to be worked on. Despite the difficult group, the Ukrainian national team must perform well and represent our country. Yuriy Sydorovych’s team has great potential, there are good young water polo players,” said Oleksandr Svishchov, President of the Ukrainian Water Polo Federation.

The U-19 European Championship qualifiers will take place from March 14 to 17. The Ukrainian national team will play in Bucharest against the teams of the Netherlands, Romania, Lithuania, and Cyprus to advance from the group.