The student association ZPV Piranha competed in the water polo cup final held at the UT outdoor pool on Saturday. Playing against ‘Thetis’, the students lost 7:8, but this result still secured them a second place in the overall competition. Piranha member Sander de Ridder shares more details about the match.
You played in the cup final of Regio Oost. What exactly does that entail?
‘It’s a regional competition for teams from the eastern Netherlands, mostly Overijssel and Gelderland. Best teams from various levels can sign up, so that means you can play against teams that are in a higher or a lower category than you. That makes for interesting matches.’
How did you do on Saturday?
‘Not too bad. We won the previous two matches, but on Saturday we lost 8:7. The other team managed to score the winning goal five seconds before the end. Otherwise, it was a more or less equal match, especially considering that we are in a lower class than the opponent – they just got promoted to the national level. I think overall it was a nice match to watch. I enjoyed it a lot myself. We had a pretty good run. It’s just a pity that it didn’t end with a win.’
So are you happy with the result?
‘I wouldn’t call it happy, but I made my peace with it. I was of course a bit disappointed, but after some time I felt okay with it and I think the rest of the team is also content with the result. We didn’t get destroyed out there or anything. It was all fair, so I’m okay with it.’
Do you need a specific strategy to win such a water polo match?
‘Generally we are a fast team. We try to play on a ‘break’. One of our strategies is to try to get the opponent to get a personal foul. We basically toss the ball around until the opponent makes a mistake and then use the opportunity to score an easier goal. We are often not as strong as the other team, but we are faster.’
You said you were a bit disappointed with the result on Saturday, but did you still celebrate with the team?
‘Yes, definitely. We got some beer afterwards. One of my teammates was also celebrating his birthday so we had a good time anyway.’
Do you have any other similar matches or competitions coming up?
‘We are playing in a tournament in the first week of July, but that is mostly for fun. And at the end of Kick-In we are organizing a water polo tournament. There will be our team, alumni team, some other teams from the Netherlands. In previous years we also had some teams from abroad, so that is always fun.’
