MEFS stages 1st Hungarian University Waterpolo Championship

BUDAPEST – The 1^st University Water Polo Championship was held in Hungary on 23-24 March. The successful event – for the first time in history – was organised by the Hungarian University Sports Federation (HUSF), the Hungarian Water Polo Federation and Semmelweis University at Komjádi Pool in Budapest.

Olympic gold medallist Tamás Faragó (1976, Montreal), former head coach of women’s national team, main patron of the championship, renewed some rules of water polo just for this event. The University students played with a smaller ball in a 25m pool, the goal from outside 7 metres counted two goals. The teams were made up of six players, and the play was 4×10 minutes running time. The experiment with Faragó’s modified rules was a success, the play became quicker, much more spectacular and enjoyable.

Mózes Székely (General Secretary, HUSF), Ádám Kiss (President, HUSF), Tamás Faragó (main patron), Máté Jancsó (University student, organiser), Béla Merkely (patron, organiser)

The exciting games led to a fantastic final: Corvinus University of Budapest beat Budapest Business School by penalties after a 10-10 draw at full-time.

Altogether nine University teams participated in the championship. More than 1,000 fans were present during the games, among them Ádám Kiss, President of HUSF, Mózes Székely, General Secretary of HUSF, Miklós Tóth, Vice-President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, Béla Merkely, Clinic Director of Semmelweis University’s Heart Centre.

The referees were world famous water polo legends: Tibor Benedek (three times Olympic champion, head coach of men’s national team), Ádám Steinmetz (Olympic champion in Athens and Universiade winner in Daegu, 2003), István Gergely (Olympic champion), and, of course, Tamás Faragó.

(Source: MEFS)