SINGAPORE – The Singapore water polo teams’ mission will be to “learn and inspire” as they look forward to facing the world powers in the game at the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships in home waters.

Singapore men’s captain Lee Kai Yang said: “Everyone starts at 0-0, so we will still go into every match with the intention to win, no matter how slim that probability is.”

“We relish the challenge to play against these high-level teams. Win or lose, there will be lessons to take away from these matches,” the sports business consultant with Deloitte told The Straits Times at the launch of the first community roadshow for the world meet at ION Orchard on May 9.

“Having played at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, I know the atmosphere will be incomparable to playing elsewhere as there will be family, friends and other Singaporeans cheering for us.

“It’s not just about us, we also hope a kid in the stands seeing water polo for the first time can get inspired to play and hopefully one day don national colours.”

The men’s team, who will make their world championship debut, are drawn into Group C alongside 2024 Olympic bronze medallists United States, as well as Brazil and Canada.

Meanwhile, the Singapore women’s team, who made their world meet bow at Doha 2024, will meet Paris silver medallists Australia, Italy and New Zealand in Group A.

In preparation for the formidable challenges, the Singaporeans have ramped up their training intensity – they train six days a week, with the men’s team increasing the number of sessions from eight to 14, while the women’s team have upped theirs from eight to 11.

They also played in the Feb 25-March 2 Asian Water Polo Championships in which the men’s team finished sixth and the women’s team finished fourth.

During their training sessions, the men had been trying out new tactics and working on their chemistry and synergy, said player Dominic Chan, a third-year National University of Singapore biomedical engineering undergraduate.

“We will continue to work on improving our game in upcoming training camps in Japan, Australia and China.”

For the women’s players, they are eager to test their mettle against teams with different styles during their training trips to Portugal, Greece and Serbia.

Captain Abielle Yeo, who is training full-time, added: “We were well-challenged in our debut (at the world championship...