Makedonas

Well done Greece! I think we should have no problems to qualify for Tokyo. Hopefully we can fight for a medal there. I believe we have a chance with our very strong and young team.

Really unfair that South Africa automatically gets in. I also think it's unfair for China and Australia too, even though they are at least decent teams. Canada are somewhat decent as well, but I disagree with this whole qualification process Greece and the Netherlands both missed out in 2012 and 2016. The Dutch hosted in 2016 but still couldn't make it. I really hope Greece can make it this year but I know it will be tough. I must say that if anyone is trying to decide who to support here, I believe us Greeks really deserve some support. 2009-2012 we had an incredible cycle. 4th at 2009 World Championships, silver at 2010 European Championships, gold at 2011 World Championships, and silver at 2012 European Championships. Also won World League bronze in 2010 and 2012. Sadly, the World Championships did not offer Olympic quota places back then, and our entire qualification was decided on one match against Spain. We lost, and Spain went on to win silver in London. Really unlucky for us. 2013-16 we did okay. Didn't win any medals but finished 5th or 6th at every World/Euro Champs during that cycle. Once again, our Olympic hopes were decided on one match. This time against Russia, and we led 9-7 in the fourth period and then 10-9 but conceded with four seconds left and then lost on penalties. Russia went on to win bronze at the Rio Olympics. 2017-20...well we had some good results (second in 2018 European Championships and won the 2018 Europa Cup), but 2019 and 2020 were not so good for us, 8th at 2019 World Championships and 6th at 2020 European Championships. After those disappointing results, we got a new coach and our best player Alexandra Asimaki (former FINA World player of the year) announced her return to the national team. Sadly, coronavirus changed some plans and she decided to finish her career. We also lost another great player in Alkisti Avramidou, who never made it to the Olympics in her incredible career. Other great players we had who never made it to the Olympics include Eleni Kouvdou and Triantafyllia Manolioudaki, they both stopped after 2016. People who follow water polo know these names very well. I do hope that with this new coach we can surprise people here and manage to qualify for Tokyo. I know it will be really tough but a lot of our girls have experience playing for Olympiakos (one of the best clubs in Europe) despite our average age being just 22 and we only have one player over 26. These young girls have achieved a lot and won the European U19 and U17 championships and medals at the World U20 and U18 championships. If they don't make it to Tokyo, I hope they can keep improving and make it to Paris 2024. Also doesn't help that our best young player Stefania Charalampidi decided to play for USA (she moved there when she was 17) even though she was born and raised in Greece... Anyways I just wanted to let people know more about our team. I don't want to make it seem like I am complaining but I think it would be a really nice story if our girls can finally get back to the Olympics for the first time since 2008. This team has been through a lot. I'm confident our men's team will qualify again, but our women need this. An elite team should not be excluded from the Olympics three times in a row.