DUBROVNIK, CROATIA - A spectacular evening Opening Ceremony held today in Dubrovnik’s historic Old Town Harbour set the scene for the first-ever World Aquatics Water Polo 4x4 (WP4) Open Championships.
Throughout the day and as the sun set over the iconic Old Town, fast-paced water polo action and harbour-side DJs created a lively, festival-style atmosphere to bring the opening day of this new global competition to a close.
At the Opening Ceremony, World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam expressed his gratitude to the Government of Croatia and the City of Dubrovnik for hosting the inaugural edition of the event.
Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Mr Andrej Plenković, Mayor of the City of Dubrovnik Mr Mato Franković, Prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva County Mr Blaž Pezo, President of the Croatian Olympic Committee and World Aquatics Bureau member Dr Josip Varvodić, and President of the Croatian Water Polo Federation Mr Mladen Drnasin also attended the landmark occasion.
“World Aquatics chose this beautiful city because we believe that Dubrovnik and Croatia is the cathedral of water polo in the world. I would like to thank the 20 countries representing the five continents who came, the athletes and the coaches for their hard work in a very short time to come here to compete in the first edition of the World Aquatics Water Polo 4x4 Open Championships. WP4 has become World Aquatics’ new event to combine sport with tourism, and Dubrovnik is the right place to start,” said World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam.
On the eve of the competition, an AQUA All Stars lineup (Tian Markart, Max Irving, Atsushi Arai, Marko Vavic, Rachel Fattal, Ekaterina Prokofyeva, Paula Camus and Max Casabella) defeated the local Dubrovnik Stars (Sandro Sukno, Marko Bijač, Andro Bušlie, Maro Jokovic, Toni Paskojevic, Luka Kirigin and Lindo Koboevic) in a showcase match to unveil the fast-paced, adrenaline-fuelled new format.
Designed to maximise speed and excitement, the new WP4 format features a condensed field of play, shorter shot clocks and continuous high-scoring action - perfect for open water locations or pools in iconic locations around the world.
The World Aquatics Water Polo 4x4 Open Championships runs through 6 September.