China claimed the second place in the just-concluded 2008 Water Polo China Open on Sunday, after falling to Australia. In another match on the same day, China's Guangdong edged out Shanghai 10 to 8, taking the 3rd place in the game. Our reporter Shuang Feng has more.

Reporter:

Host China lost to historical water polo powerhouse Australia 12 to 7 in the men's water polo competition.

The Australia water polo team, or Aussie Sharks, took the lead from the beginning. Although China gradually caught up, a number of fouls stopped China from launching effective attacks, while low shooting accuracy led to a loss with five points behind Australia.

Head coach of the Australia team, John Fox said he was happy with the result but it wasn't an easy game.

"It wasn't possible for us to score as freely as what I would like. Consequently the game was quite close until the last few minutes. It was a very good hit out for us. The Chinese team has been quite competitive for a number of years now. Our boys would testify that our games have been quite hard against China."

Water polo is a comparatively new sport in China. Many spectators were watching the sport for the first time. However, the Good Luck Beijing test event is expected to improve the popularity of the sport among the public.

"I think China played well today. We are not watching water polo as often as possible. But my son is very interested in swimming and other aquatic sports. So I am taking him here. It's a good experience for him. And I hope China can play a better game in the upcoming Beijing Olympics."

China's present national water polo team was set up in 2003. With an average age of 25, the team claimed the championship at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. Its best ranking was the 9th in the Olympic Games history.

Now China ranks the 13th in the latest water polo world event.

According to last Saturday's water polo draw, China's men's team joins in Pool B of the 2008 Olympic games, fighting Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Germany and the U.S..

Shuang Feng, CRI news.