semmelweis university - Faculty of Physical Education and Sport ...

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MANAGEMENT OF SPORT SECTION
Cheong Johnson
Semmelweis University, Faculty of P. E. and Sport Sciences (TF), Budapest, Hungary
Supervisor: Dr. Gyöngyi Szabó Földesi, professor
Comparison of Water Polo in Malaysia and Hungary from a Sociological Perspective
Water polo was brought to Malaysia only in the 1960´s. From the beginning the national
teams were good enough but till 1998 it did not get any medal from any international games.
In Hungary water polo has much longer traditions; actually it is one of the most popular and
most successful sports in the country. The national teams won gold medal several times in
world championships and in Olympic Games. The objectives of this paper are to compare the
social background of water polo players in Malaysia and in Hungary. The methods used for
data collection were in depth-interview made with some water polo players in Malaysia and
Hungary. The results are presented according to the following dimensions: history of water
polo in the two countries, the age and the way the players are selected in their teams, the
benefit the players get from their sporting career. In conclusion it can be stated that on the one
hand water polo is a body contact game, and the body size in Malaysia is smaller than
players‘ in Europe (especially Hungary), therefore Malaysian players are in a disadvantageous
situation. On the other hand, the differences in their achievement are also rooted in the
different social and economic support given to water polo and their players in the two
countries. It is unambiguous that in Malaysia much less attention is paid to this sport than in
Hungary.
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