Canoe Polo Teams Participating in Asian Championship

Iranian men and women’s teams are participating in the 18th Asian Canoe Polo Championships in Malaysia, November 8-12.

A total of 30 teams from 10 countries are attending. Iran has sent four teams including men and women’s squads in both junior and senior categories, Varzesh3.com reported.

Canoe polo is played by two teams of five players on a rectangular playing pitch that can be in open water or in a swimming pool. Matches are played over two halves of 10 minutes with the aim to score into a goal which is suspended above the water at each end of the pitch. The ball in canoe polo is the same that is used in water polo, and can be controlled by hand or by paddle.

The national championship in canoe polo was first held in England in 1971, but it was not until 1986 that the International Canoe Federation (ICF) published its first set of universal playing rules for the discipline. The following year canoe polo was demonstrated at the canoe sprint world championships in Duisburg, Germany, and in 1990 the ICF finalized their international rules for canoe polo. The first world championships  took place in Sheffield, England, in 1994.

Asian Canoe Polo Championships is being held at the Taman Botani Johor Botanical Garden in Batu Pahat town, Malaysia.