Tenerife Echeyde Hosts Nordic League Water Polo Qualifiers
Tenerife Echeyde hosts the Nordic League water polo group stage from today until Sunday, aiming to secure a spot in the Final Eight against teams from Romania, South Africa, and Ireland.
Tenerife Echeyde is getting ready to host the group stage of the Nordic League. This international water polo competition, despite its name, now includes teams from many different countries and is a major event for clubs worldwide. The matches will be held from today until Sunday at the Acidalio Lorenzo pool in Santa Cruz. This is a big chance for the Tenerife team to show they are still improving in European water polo.
The island club has a strong record in this tournament, having won the 2024 edition in Sweden and finished as runner-up the year before, when it was also played in Tenerife. Now, they will host this qualifying round. Their main goal is to secure one of the two spots that lead to the Final Eight. They will compete against three different teams: Oradea from Romania, a team Echeyde beat easily two seasons ago; Elevate from South Africa, a young team made up mostly of players from the African national team; and Leinster from Ireland.
Echeyde's coach, Albert Español, says the team aims to win all their matches. They want to get into a good rhythm before the crucial part of the season and hope to win a title, just like in previous successful years. The club is proud to host this stage in Tenerife, especially with more teams from various countries joining and the tournament becoming tougher. This international event comes at an interesting time for the Tenerife team. They recently had three straight away wins in the league and qualified for the European Conference Cup quarterfinals, but then suffered a narrow defeat last Wednesday against Mediterrani. So, the Nordic League is a perfect opportunity for them to bounce back and boost their confidence.
The competition kicks off this afternoon at 6:00 PM with Echeyde playing the Romanian team. After that, the South African team will face the Irish. On Saturday, Oradea plays Leinster at 5:00 PM, followed by Echeyde against Elevate at 6:30 PM. Sunday will see the final qualifying matches: Elevate vs. Oradea at 10:00 AM, and Echeyde vs. Leinster at 11:30 AM. This international event will once again make Santa Cruz de Tenerife a central point for water polo.