II Cuba-Netherlands Water Polo Masters Meeting confirmed

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 6 (ACN) The II Cuba-Netherlands Water Polo Masters Meeting will kick off on Wednesday, February 9, at the swimming pool of the High Performance Athletes Training School in this city.

Retired Dutch polo players and their peers in Havana will start the competition, which will also feature teams from other provinces.

This second event was made possible thanks to many people’s efforts, especially Ilja Mohandas Hoepelman, bronze medalist at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games, who wished to pay tribute to his friends, brothers Guillermo and Eugenio Martínez Ginoris, renowned Cuban polo players and members of the technical committee of the International Swimming Federation, who passed away in recent years.

"The people of Cuba are very friendly and helpful, and they have a rich history in water polo," Mohandas, who is also a recognized doctor in the Netherlands, declared to the Cuban press. “One of Cuba's advantages is its great health system and good vaccines, so it is safe to travel here.”

He added that Cuba has high potential in all kinds of disciplines, and sports can be a gateway to the world so that the country can derive economic benefits from its athletes, he remarked about the information that more than a dozen Cuban polo players have been hired by foreign clubs.