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SEA Games: Indonesian water polo team aims to break Singapore’s 52-year domination
Since the first competition of water polo at the 1965 SEA Games, Singapore’s men’s team has been the untouchable champion, collecting 27 consecutive gold medals. Indonesia has slowly worked its way up to tail the Singaporeans, but it is now dreaming bigger.
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Indonesia's water polo men's team coach Milos Sakovic (left) trains Rezza Auditya (right) during a practice session at the Aquatic Stadium of the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sports complex in Jakarta on Oct. 11. (The Jakarta Post/Ramadani Saputra)
I
t meant the world to Indonesian water polo player Rezza Auditya Putra when the Indonesian men’s team ended a match against dominating Singapore in a draw at the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
It was indeed a new milestone for Indonesia, as it usually lost encounters with Singapore. Indeed, at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur stint, the red-and-white team only bagged a silver medal, trailing gold medalist Singapore, hence the draw against the Singaporeans boosted Indonesia’s confidence and sparked hope.
Since the first competition of water polo at the 1965 SEA Games, Singapore’s men’s team has been the untouchable champion, collecting 27 consecutive gold medals. Indonesia, however, has worked its way up slowly but surely and now tails the Singaporeans.
At the 30th SEA Games to take place in the Philippines in a few weeks’ time, Singaporean and Indonesian water poloists will be keeping their eyes on each other as both enter the competition with ambitious targets. Singapore is unlikely to content itself with anything less than a 28th gold medal to underscore its formidable reputation, while Indonesia is more than eager to make history by bringing home gold and ending Singapore’s dominance.
Indonesian men’s team coach Milos Sakovic said he was aware of the pressure to dethrone Singapore in the Philippines. However, the Serbian would like to keep his team’s expectations grounded ahead of the Games, given its lack of competing at high-level competitions.
“We are giving our best because we think that this is the moment when everyone expects us to win the first gold medal in the history of the SEA Games,” Sakovic, who has handled the national team since 2017, said recently.
