Evstigneev: “The Olympics are coming soon, fights with foreign opponents can be held not earlier than in the fall”

Head coach of the KINEF-Surgutneftegaz water polo club Sergei Evstigneev told that it is difficult for gaming sports to find training partners during the Olympic season, as most teams have a busy schedule of international competitions.

Russian water polo clubs and the national team have been suspended from all competition at the international level due to the situation in Ukraine.

— Have you watched the World Cup?

“The games were happening at a convenient time, so I followed what was happening.

— Did something surprise you? The victory of the French team over the Hungarians, for example?

– Maybe that’s exactly what it is. They played well not only against the Hungarians, but also against the Croatians. They have a good team, they have been training for the Olympics at home for a long time. They play well at club level, they have been progressing gradually for six years now and are now fourth at the World Championships. The World Championship matches were generally interesting, given that the strongest European teams played in the European Championships quite recently.

— How are things going at KINEF? Water polo doesn’t have many alternative starts; perhaps it will be possible to organize a sort of sparring between clubs?

— With team sports, everything is much more complicated in this regard than organizing, for example, a match meeting in an individual, non-playing form. In addition, now many foreign teams are busy on the international calendar, the Olympics are ahead, such a thing is unlikely to be organized before the fall, ”Evstigneev told .