The Romanian polo team made its debut with a defeat at the World Championship in Doha. The tricolors suffered a 15-8 defeat at the hands of the trophy holders Hungary.

Hungary – Romania 15-8, in the first match at the World Polo Championship

The score at halftime was 5-2, 5-2, 2-3, 3-1.

In the first match of Group D, also on Monday, Italy vs. Kazakhstan, score 33-3.

The tricolors under the leadership of Bohdan Rath will play Kazakhstan on Wednesday (3:00 p.m.) and Italy on Friday (11:00 a.m.).

Romania returned to the World Cup after 11 years in 2013, finishing 13th.

Australia, South Africa, Croatia, Spain (A), Greece, Brazil, China, France (B) and Serbia, Montenegro, Japan, USA (C) play in the other groups of the 2024 draw. First day results: South Africa – Spain 5-21, China – Greece 6-24, Brazil – France 11-16, Croatia – Australia 13-8, Japan – Serbia 10-17 and Montenegro – USA 16-15, after shootouts.

The first places in each group go directly to the quarterfinals, and for the 2nd-3rd places, inter-match contact matches will be held on February 11 (groups AB and CD). The quarterfinals will take place on February 13, the semifinals two days later, and the medal finals on February 17, News.ro reports.

The 2024 World Cup is very important in terms of bidding for four places at the Paris Olympics, for which France, Hungary, Greece, Japan, USA, South Africa, Spain and Australia have already qualified. Thus, Romania has a good chance to compete for a return to the Olympic Games after 12 years.

Romania qualified for the World Cup in Doha by reaching the quarter-finals at last month’s European Championship, where they finished in 8th place.