Abovian Armenian Cultural Association
Address: Weesperstraat 91
2574 VS The Hague, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31704490209
Website:
Email: info@abovian.nl
Contact: I. Drost

Press Release
18 August 2007

Armenian-Dutch Water Polo International Player Biurakn Hakhverdian Reaching
for the 2008 Olympics in China

By Inge Drost

This article is based on an interview with Armenian-Dutch water polo
international player Biurakn Hakhverdian, by Robbert Minkhorst published in
the Dutch Daily newspaper ‘Leidsch Dagblad’ on 30 July 2007.

Some sportsmen and sportswomen are resting during the summer while others,
like cyclists and also water polo players such as Hakhverdian, have to
perform. Biurakn Hakhverdian, daughter of Iranian-Armenian parents, has
barely had a vacation as she is a part of the Dutch national women¹s water
polo team preparing for the qualifications for the next year¹s Olympic Games
in China.

There are still two qualification rounds to go. First, the Dutch team will
be competing in Kirishi, Russia from 19 to 26 August for the European
Olympic Qualification Tournament, where only one of the nine competing teams
will qualify for the Olympics. At the beginning of next year, the last round
will be played and four additional national teams can qualify.

The Dutch Olympic Committee NOC*NSF gave the women water polo team the
A-status, meaning the group can work full time. Mostly, the team trains in
the national sport centre in Zeist, along with training and friendly
competition tournaments abroad.

Regarding the team, Hakhverdian says ³we are getting along within the team
now, we are working on teamwork. From last year, the atmosphere has improved
a lot; we have grown closer as a team. There is less ?clique- forming¹. You
show your fellow teammates that you are there for them, and that you
sympathise. You recognise and are happy when another player in the team does
something well.²

Hakhverdian has a mission to participate in the 2008 Olympics. She
acknowledges being a part of a national team can affect her life in many
ways. She postponed her studies at Leyden Universitiy in the Netherlands, of
which she feels a bit guilty, ³in the end one needs education.² But she
wouldn¹t have it any other way. If she felt she was missing out on many
things, she would have made a different choice.

Hakhverdian¹s water polo career started at a local club in Leyden, called
ZVL. In October 2005 Hakhverdian went abroad and joined the Greek Club
Ethnicos Piraeus, where after finding out the club had made a miscalculation
in the (limited) number of players from abroad, she left. But the time she
spent in Greece was enough for Hakhverdian to realise that her ambition is
in that direction.

As national coach Robin van Galen wants all his international players to be
close at hand for the Olympic qualification, Hakhverdian spent last one and
half year playing in the Dutch team Polar Bears winning a national title.
This means she will also play for the Polar Bears for the European water
polo Cup coming year.