Japan Men's Water Polo Makes Rio for First Time in 32 Years

For the first time in good 32 years Japan sends water polo men to Rio. 32 years, folks - 8 Olympics away! Of course, this means Japan has never been good enough to play water polo in the Olympics, and let's admit few Japanese know enough about the sport.

The Japanese team met in Toyama today for a six-day training camp to power up its specialty - a thundering counterattack. The first day was open to the media at the Toyama Prefectural Gymnastic Center.

Water polo is a team water sport, played in 4 quarters for scores thrown into the opponents' goal. A team consists of 6 fielders with one goalkeeper. Water polo is a contact sport - quite rough with frequent fouls throughout the game. That's one of the reasons why the lesser built Japanese are not generally good at the sport.

In the 5-team elimination league Japan met China in the final game 3-0 each. Japan ousted China in quick play and led the 1st period 6-2. China came close enough to 8-6 after the 2nd period but Japan pulled through 16-10 to win the ticket to Rio.

Head Coach Yoji Omoto had his boys repeat rapid counter offensives on the initial day of training camp. He remarked:

"International competitions always wear my boys out. They overwork on defense - so much so that they run out of power to shoot.

"In the Olympics I don't think we can survive that way. That's why I have worked out programs to boost physical fitness."

At Rio, the competition consists of two stages: a group stage and a knockout stage that follows. The teams are divided into two groups of six countries each. Top four teams qualify for the quarterfinals. Japan is in Group A with Serbia, Greece, Brazil, Australia and Hungary. Omoto figures on placing Japan among the top 8.

You never know - Japan might make it to the quarterfinals. (Nathan Shiga)