Singapore water polo boys confident of upholding proud SEA Games heritage

Singapore water polo captain Eugene Teo believes his team has a 99% chance at SEA Games gold (AFP Photo).

Eugene Teo is the captain of Singapore's national water polo team for good reason.

'We have a 99% shot at gold,' said the 25-year-old, bullish over his side's chances at the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

Ably supporting his bold claim are the 24 straight titles Singapore has secured as regional kings of the sport, in a dominant streak stretching back to independence in 1965.

The secret to their staggering success lies in each generation of players consistently guiding the next to assume the golden reins, said Teo. 'We inherited this heritage. We have to uphold it.'

This year, however, there has been talk of their reign being threatened by a new set of rules passed by international body FINA, which aim to temper physical roughhousing and quicken the pace of games.

Some of the key changes include the banning of two-handed tackles. It is now also illegal to tackle opponents in their half.

With a month to go, squad members like SEA Games debutants Samuel Yu and Yip Yang told Yahoo Singapore that they were still getting used to the new rules, but Teo isn't unduly concerned.

'We have to just play our game to the next level, to one level above everyone else,' he said.

Singapore captain Eugene Teo (Photo by Wong Yoon Wah).

Fostering talent

Ahead of his fourth SEA Games outing - second as captain - Teo acknowledged the constant pressure on the squad to deliver, but also expressed cause for quiet confidence.

'This is a new team, but it's a strong team,' said the Anglo-Chinese School (Barker) alumnus. 'I've seen them improve vastly over the last two competitions this year, from finishing 4th at the Asian Championships to 2nd place at the Asian Cup.'

Teo, who is employed in the shipping industry, attributed their progress to the sheer passion exhibited by younger teammates such as Yu and Yip, even as they remain wrapped up in academic pursuit.

'These are the boys willing to sacrifice their personal lives to push themselves further,' said Teo. 'They finish training, head home to study, get three to four hours of sleep then wake up for school the next day.'

Singapore winger Yip Yang (Photo by Lawrence Ang).

Yu, 17, finished his first-year promos at Hwa Chong Junior College earlier this month, but Singapore Management University undergraduate Yip will sit for his exams right before flying off to the SEA Games.

The latter, lauded by team manager Samuel Wong as the 'magician' of the team, has no complaints. 'It's been my dream to play at the SEA Games since Secondary One,' said the 22-year-old. 'I'm just happy that after nine years, I'm finally going.'

Wider horizons

Even as Teo praised his young team's desire to 'see the world and challenge bigger boys', he admitted that taking the step up from their Southeast Asian plaudits would be a different ballgame altogether.

'Water polo is a tradition in other places across the world, especially Europe, where it's a core sport,' Teo explained. 'In Hungary, we saw boys starting at three to four years old, and after that they have a very good programme lined up for them.'

Singapore's Samuel Yu attempts a shot on goal (Photo by Singapore Water Polo)

Above all, he lamented, water polo just isn't popular enough in Singapore. 'Say we have a league game. There won't be more than five people watching - and they would be players or ex-players.'

'Football, on the other hand, has the support of fans, and there's money going in for the sport to flourish,' Teo added. 'For us, we depend on what the Singapore Sports Council gives us, and we use it up for training, overseas competitions.'

In short, water polo simply cannot pay the bills, and it is for this reason that promising sportspersons like Yu and Yip are already dismissing the possibility of ever playing full-time.

'I thought of it once,' revealed Teo. 'But even for football, look at Fandi: our greatest player, where is he now? After we (athletes) are past our prime, what can we do?'

Such is the plight of this ever-changing group of athletes in waterpolo.

But even as they unfailingly juggle real-world commitments with a decades-long dedication to preserving Singapore's proud run at the SEA Games, one thing remains constant: the quest for gold.

Singapore's water polo team launch their SEA Games campaign on 5 December. Catch all the action at the 2013 SEA Games from 5 - 22 December in Myanmar here on Yahoo Singapore. Related story Singapore's only female rower fights for fate of her sport at SEA Games